Painful Recognition
by Lavender Feline
Summary: Taichi and Yamato's relationship is rocky at best and things only get worse when Daisuke moves back to town and triggers a series of events that only complicate matters. Will Taichi and Yamato's relationship survive? Chapter 10 is now up!
1. Chapter 1

**Painful Recognition**

Author Notes: It's been a while since I wrote taito, let alone some of the other pairings that are going to be in this fic, so I hope everyone gives me feedback and lets me know how they think it is!

**Chapter 1**

It was at that moment, when the bitter taste of coffee flowed over his tongue, that he saw him. Holding the paper cup in one hand, the rim still at his lips, he stared across the crowded cafe to meet familiar eyes. For a moment, he froze, and he didn't hear the cacophony of voices around him. Then the other boy stood to approach him and everything snapped back into place.

Suddenly Taichi was all too aware of his rain soaked appearance. He'd left the house in such a hurry that he'd left behind his umbrella, but he was too proud to go back for it. Instead, he came here to brood. But now that his hair was plastered to the back of his neck and his clothes were soaked through, he regretted it.

'Still,' Taichi thought, setting his cup down as the boy approached him, 'I never expected to run into _him_ here.'

They stared at each other for a moment, and Taichi was sure the other boy felt as awkward as he did. 'Not much of a 'boy' anymore though, is he?'

"Taichi-senpai!" Daisuke said, smiling widely and breaking the silence abruptly. "It is you!"

Grinning despite himself, Taichi cocked his head. "Yeah, I haven't changed that much, have I?"

"Mm." Daisuke shrugged and pulled out the chair on the other side of Taichi's table, sitting down in front of him. "Your hair. It's all flat."

"Oh, right," Taichi reached up and ran a hand through it self-consciously. "Damn rain. Forgot my umbrella."

"How could you forget it? It's been raining for days!" Daisuke leaned forward over the table, resting his chin in his hand and grinning. He was still adorable, Taichi noted mentally.

"When did you get back?" Taichi asked, ignoring the question completely. He didn't want to talk about the reason he'd left the apartment in such a hurry, it just made his stomach tense and quickly brought all his thoughts back to the past few hours.

"A few weeks ago," Daisuke said, sitting back and sighing. "I was gonna visit you but your mom said you and Yamato-san moved in together," Daisuke began, and his voice got just a bit tenser, the way it had ever since that day. "I didn't wanna burst in on anything."

'Oh, yeah. This is why we didn't keep in touch.' Taichi forced a grin and shrugged. "Yeah. Well, you can always visit, but you should call first. Yamato's pretty anal about that kinda thing."

"Uh huh." Daisuke took a long sip of his own cup and an awkward silence dropped over them like a heavy blanket.

Taichi sighed and sat back in his chair, feeling heavy and exhausted. A familiar feeling of guilt washed over him. After all, he was almost certain that the entire reason the younger boy had moved away for college was what had happened that spring.

Daisuke had asked Taichi to meet him outside the science lab, under the cherry tree. The blossoms were in full bloom, and Taichi was completely oblivious as to why Daisuke would ask to meet him there of all places.

When he sat under the tree he was early, but the high school didn't get out until after Taichi's last class of the day and it would take Daisuke a while to walk from the high school to Taichi's college campus. He kept himself busy braiding a few pieces of grass together in boredom when a shadow fell over him.

Normally, Yamato would have teased him for sitting under the pink tree like this, or for _braiding _something, or simply for being him. That was the way their friendship worked. But in the past few months, things had become awkward and strained. Taichi found himself having a harder and harder time ignoring the way the blond boy looked with his ever growing hair pulled back in a ponytail and his new found affection for black slinky shirts that were never buttoned up all the way.

So instead of saying anything, Taichi just watched as Yamato sat down next to him.

"You waiting for someone?" Yamato finally asked, staring at him in an intense way that made Taichi just a little nervous. Yamato was always too intense.

"No," he said, immediately feeling bad for lying. But after all, the high school didn't get out for another fifteen minutes, right? So it wouldn't matter if he talked to Yamato in the mean time.

"Taichi... I-"

Of course, Taichi hadn't _meant_ to kiss Yamato like that, it just sort of _happened_. When his friend opened his lips to say his name, he just lost it. They'd been spending so much time together, with Taichi helping Yamato study for his English finals, and Yamato helping Taichi study for his literature ones. They'd fallen asleep leaning on each other after studying too many times, and Taichi had become more and more obsessed with finding out if Yamato really did taste the way he smelled. They'd been best friends for so long, they'd come out to each other, they'd grown up together. Not considering if this new found obsession was love or lust, all he'd known was that he had to do this eventually.

And it had finally happened. His lips were on Yamato's, and the other boy was kissing back.

He didn't think fifteen minutes had passed. Maybe they hadn't, maybe Daisuke got out of school early. But either way, one kiss blurred into another, until they both froze at the sound of the younger boy's voice.

"Taichi-senpai?"

When Taichi broke the kiss and saw Daisuke standing only a few yards away with the most hurt expression he'd ever seen anyone make, he'd felt a strong pang of guilt and regret, although he honestly wasn't sure why. But his hands were still clenching Yamato's shirt (it was silk and was difficult to hold on to, it kept slipping through his fingers) and he could still taste the other boy on his lips (and he tasted nothing like he smelled, which was a little disappointing.)

It wasn't until after he and Yamato had found their way into Taichi's dorm room, and then his bed, that Taichi thought back and wondered what had happened. For a moment he thought he might be able to go after the younger boy. He could go to his house and apologize for hurting his feelings, he could ask what he'd done! But his best friend, now lover, was lying next to him asleep, and he decided not to. After all, he'd probably imagined Daisuke's expression. He'd probably just been surprised.

But ever since that day Daisuke had been distanced. When they were alone together things were fine, when they were alone together there was still that same feeling of acceptance and relaxation that he'd always had around Daisuke. But when Yamato's name came up, or he was around, Daisuke would become very cold and polite. Taichi didn't understand why, but he was sure it would be a bad idea to ask.

No one was shocked when Daisuke decided to go to college on the other side of the country when he graduated that year. He moved in with his grandmother, who lived near the school.

The guilt that Taichi had carried since that day still haunted him whenever he thought about the younger boy. He'd never been completely sure as to why Daisuke had been so deeply hurt, although Yamato had always said it was because the younger boy was jealous. Taichi would always glare at Yamato for teasing him, but secretly he'd hoped it was true. He supposed he just liked the attention.

"I got an apartment," Daisuke's voice broke Taichi's thoughts and he jumped a little, feeling stupid for spacing out.

"O-oh? Nearby?" Taichi swallowed hard, suddenly realizing just how long it had been since they'd spoken. Had it really been two years?

"Yeah, just up the street. I got a job at this advertising place. It's an interning thing but it's just until I make it big as a world famous artist." Daisuke was grinning again. "And if I don't, I guess doing graphics design isn't so bad."

Taichi immediately relaxed at the sight of Daisuke's grin, and he went back to admiring the way the younger boy looked. His hair was still that rich mahogany color and still totally untamed, and his eyes were just as wide and innocent looking. Somehow going to college and aging two years hadn't done much to make Daisuke look older. In fact, Taichi was almost certain he hadn't grown an inch since high school. Instead of wanting to tease the younger boy about this however, Taichi just decided that it was good that Daisuke was still so cute. "You didn't graduate, did you?" Taichi asked, trying not to let on what he was thinking.

Daisuke shook his head, his hair swaying a bit. "Decided it wasn't worth it. I got that interning offer and I'd rather do that than go to school, anyway." He grinned. "I'll either make it or I won't, a degree won't make a difference. Anyway, college was boring."

Sighing dramatically, Taichi shook his head. "You, an artist. That's just depressing. All that time I was tutoring you in soccer and you turned into a girly-boy."

Daisuke smirked in a way that reminded Taichi a little of himself years ago, and chuckled. "And you're an accountant. That's real cool, _senpai_."

Feeling his entire body tense, Taichi gripped his cup just a bit tighter. "Yeah, well teaching snot nosed little brats soccer isn't exactly a high paying job."

Daisuke's eyes had widened and he sat back just a bit. "I guess but... didn't you tell me you didn't care about that kinda stuff? I thought you loved teaching and-"

Taichi snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I grew up."

"...Oh," Daisuke mumbled, looking hurt.

Outside, lightning lit the evening sky for a brief flash, making Taichi realize just how tense he'd gotten. He let out a long sigh and shrugged. "Sorry. It's been a shitty night."

Smiling again as if nothing had happened, Daisuke nodded. "I know what that's like. But at least you can go home to Yamato-san, right?"

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem. We had a fight."

"My parents always said fighting shows you love each other," Daisuke said, nodding wisely.

"Didn't your parents get divorced a few years ago?" Taichi raised an eyebrow at him, holding back a chuckle.

"Well... _yeah_. But... um... probably your kind of fighting isn't as bad as theirs!" Daisuke scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I dunno," Taichi mused, looking back out the window. "We fight a lot." He frowned at his own reflection in the glass. 'Why the hell am I telling him this? Yamato would be _so_ pissed if he knew.' Somehow, that thought only encouraged him. "A _lot_."

Daisuke looked worried when Taichi turned back towards him. "Why? What did he do?"

'He still assumes it was Yamato and not me who fucked up. Man, does he still think I'm that great of a guy?' "Nothin'. He just gets pissed when I do stuff like forget to clean up after myself, or stay out too late and stuff."

"Oh." Daisuke said, but he obviously didn't understand. Then he brightened. "But that's just 'cause he loves you!" The smile on his lips didn't quite reach his eyes and Taichi felt that familiar tug of guilt.

"It's not always that easy. We don't even screw anymore, we just fight..." He licked his lips slowly, his eyes fixed on Daisuke's. They still had that same full, pouty look they'd always had. The same lips that had always made him wonder just how much trouble he'd get into if he molested his underclassman. 'Of course, back then I thought about all my friends like that. Teenage hormones, that's all that was.'

"Oh." Daisuke had turned a bright red color.

'He looks good like that,' Taichi cocked his head and felt his eyes narrow into a leer. The loud crack of thunder outside shook him out of it, and he gritted his teeth. 'Not getting laid in months isn't a reason to go rapist on him, Taichi. Get your mind out of the gutter.'

"If... if you're having trouble...um..." Daisuke began, biting his lower lip and taking away Taichi's focal point, forcing the older boy back into reality. "You can always stay at my place."

Pursing his lips, Taichi wondered for a brief moment what would happen if he took the younger boy up on his offer, and he tried to repress the fleeting images that danced across his mind. Daisuke naked, Daisuke naked, Daisuke... 'No, damnit. Get control of yourself!' Taichi bit the inside of his cheek to clear his thoughts. 'You haven't seen him in years, you shouldn't be hitting on _anyone_, and he's probably not interested anyway!'

Suddenly Taichi was reminded of the way Yamato had teased him so many times about Daisuke having had a crush on him. He wanted to believe it. He liked the attention, and having a cute young boy like you was never a bad thing, that was all! But suddenly it was important for it to be true. And he wanted it to _still _be true.

"Sorry," Daisuke said quickly, standing. "I didn't mean... um... I just want you to be happy!" His eyes widened and he quickly corrected himself. "You and Yamato-san! I just mean... sometimes it's better to take a break if you're fighting a lot, that's all!" He grinned nervously at his senpai.

"Oh, right. Yeah, I know. I know, I mean... I know," Taichi mumbled lamely, taking a deep, cleansing breath. He felt oddly disappointed.

"So... um... I should go..." Daisuke backed away slightly, tripping over the chair and knocking it over. The loud noise silenced the boisterous talking around the cafe and heads turned to stare at the red head. Daisuke ducked his head and blushed as he pulled the chair back into place, not looking up again until he was sure no one was looking any longer.

Feeling something click in his mind, Taichi stood up as well. "You serious?"

"Huh?" Those large mahogany eyes turned back to stare at Taichi. "What about?"

"That I can crash at your place. You mean it?" He didn't care anymore, he just wanted to go home with Daisuke. Meeting him like this was way too much good luck to throw away. Anyway, he was certain nothing would happen. Despite his own strange yearnings to have the younger boy want him, he was certain that wasn't true, even if it had been long ago.

"Um... yeah!" Daisuke beamed at the older boy. "Whatever I can do to help!"

"I'll just stay the night... Yamato'll have cooled down by tomorrow and we can make up and all then." Taichi picked up his still full coffee cup and sighed, realizing it had gone cold during the dramatic confrontation that had just taken place. He tossed it into the garbage can as they walked towards the door, then frowned out at the still pouring rain. "Man, I'm gonna get wet all over again."

"I brought an umbrella!" Daisuke said cheerfully, holding it out. "It's kinda small, but I think it'll cover us."

Holding the door open for Daisuke first, they stepped out onto the street. Daisuke quickly opened the tiny red umbrella and held it up, trying to cover himself and Taichi, then sighed. "You're too tall. Here." He handed it to Taichi, looking annoyed. "Someday that growth spurt's gonna hit me and then I'll be taller than all of you!"

Taichi grinned and held the umbrella in his left hand, wrapping his right arm around Daisuke's shoulder. He felt the younger boy tense at the touch and tried to ignore the pleasant sensation that ran up his spine at the feeling of having Daisuke's body so close. "So we'll both fit under," Taichi said quickly, explaining.

"R-right..." Daisuke said, the word sticking in his throat just a bit.

As they walked down the street, guided by Daisuke's instructions on where to turn to get to his apartment, Taichi felt the younger boy relax, and he was suddenly really glad he and Yamato had fought.

And then he felt that wave of guilt all over again.


	2. Chapter 2

So here it is, the second chapter. Ooh I hope people are still reading so far, and I've really enjoyed reading your reviews... it's so interesting seeing what people think is going on, or what will happen! Please keep leaving them, and I'll keep writing.

Chapter 2

It smelled like chocolate. Taichi raised his head and sniffed a little harder as he kicked off his shoes and stepped into Daisuke's small apartment. Yes, it definitely smelled like chocolate. Glancing around the living room, Taichi quickly took in his surroundings. A worn out old couch sat in the middle of the room, probably a hand-me-down from his parents or sister. There was a small television against the far wall, with a few game systems stacked below it, the wires from the controllers all tangled up together. A few bookshelves ran along the wall, holding what appeared to be a large collection of manga, dvds, and old worn out sketchbooks.

Photos hung on the walls in small cheap plastic frames, clumped together in odd arrangements, showing Daisuke's lack of skill in decorating compared to Yamato. Taichi crossed the room to examine the pictures that hung on the wall running down the hallway. There was a photo of his family, although it was small compared to the others. A few medium sized pictures hung next to each other, all containing photos of Daisuke and Ken in varying ages. Then there was a huge portrait of the chosen children at one of the picnics they'd had; Taichi thought he recognized it as being from his second year of junior high. The last pictures on the wall were what really surprised him. As he stared into them, he saw himself staring back. Daisuke had a large photo of Taichi posing in his soccer jersey after winning the regionals, a smaller photo of him at his high school graduation, and a picture of himself and Daisuke playing soccer that he didn't remember being taken.

"Those are just... decorations," Daisuke mumbled from beside Taichi.

Snapping out of it, Taichi turned and saw Daisuke's face, flushed bright red.

"The walls looked really boring without stuff on them so... I just put up the pictures I happened to have."

Grinning, Taichi nodded. "Yeah. Makes the place real homey." He decided not to ask about why Daisuke had chosen THESE photos. After all, he knew that the younger boy had always looked up to him. Probably he hung up pictures of Taichi in the same way that Taichi had posters of his favorite soccer stars above his bed in college; it was just for inspiration, to make him do his best and try harder.

"Do you want something to drink or... some food or something?" Daisuke asked. He sounded a little nervous, like he wasn't used to having guests to his own place yet.

Taichi shrugged. "I'm good. Fighting's the only thing that can make me lose my appetite," he ended the sentence by grumbling. The image of Yamato's face only a few hours before, the sound of yelling, the door slamming shut... it all came back in an instant.

"Oh..." Daisuke didn't seem to know what to say.

Feeling bad for making the younger boy feel awkward, Taichi forced a grin. "You have a nice place."

"It's okay. Kinda small but... it's okay since I live alone." Daisuke brightened a bit. "You want the grand tour?" Before Taichi could reply, Daisuke opened the door to their right. "This is the bedroom." The room Taichi saw beyond the doorway was small and messy, with dirty clothes piled in one corner and the queen sized bed that took up most of the room unmade. "I have to have a big bed 'cause I roll around a lot... I used to fall out of bed a lot." He laughed and turned, opening the door on the other side of the small hallway. "The bathroom's pretty nice, I even have a tub! Pretty cool for such a small apartment, most of them just had tiny showers."

Taichi nodded, glancing around. There was a light blue shower curtain hanging in the shower, and it did indeed have a nice sized tub. Matching light blue towels hung on a bar, and a small bath mat lay in front of the toilet.

"Oh! And the kitchen!" Daisuke took Taichi's hand and tugged him back down the hall to the living room, and then through the archway on the far wall.

Taichi couldn't help but grin, despite his otherwise bad mood. Daisuke was like a little kid showing off his new toy. He understood, though, having your first apartment was pretty exciting. "It's cool," Taichi said, glancing around the tiny kitchen. It was typical of these small apartments, with an oven, a microwave on the counter, a sink, and some cabinets. There was no dishwasher, Taichi noted pityingly.

"I know it's small, but... well, the whole place is small but-"

"You keep saying that," Taichi said, cutting him off. "You have any clue how small most apartments are? This place is HUGE for a guy your age. You must be rolling in dough. Whatcha been doin', dealing drugs?"

The large grin on Dasiuke's face faded slightly. "Um... no. I just got a really good deal."

"Fucking the landlady huh?" Taichi winked at Daisuke, leaning against the counters and folding his arms. "She better be hot."

Daisuke's whole face went pink. "No! ...It's just... no one wanted this place so they had to sell it to me real cheap." He glanced around the room quickly before meeting Taichi's eyes and leaning in, whispering loudly, "They say it's haunted."

Making a face, Taichi nodded. "Yeah, right. Superstitious crap."

"That's what I said!" Daisuke said brightly. "Ghosts aren't so scary! And it's such a nice apartment and I don't pay much for it and..." he looked around again. "I haven't seen anything spooky... yet."

Taichi chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about it. If I was a ghost I wouldn't stick around this place." Sniffing again, Taichi finally frowned. "Unless you have a chocolate loving ghost. Where the hell is that smell coming from?"

"Oh! That's the air freshener!" Daisuke smiled brightly.

"...A chocolate scented air freshener?" Taichi stared at Daisuke blankly. "They make those?"

"Well, it's hard to find them, but you can if you know where to look! Smells a lot better than those stinky flower ones, huh? Chocolate is definitely the best smell."

"Yamato has the flower ones," Taichi mumbled, turning and walking back into the living room and settling down on the couch, sighing heavily. No matter what he did, no matter how funny Daisuke was, his thoughts kept going back to that fight, to that apartment.

Daisuke sat down next to Taichi on the couch carefully. "What happened, Taichi-senpai?" Daisuke's cheeks turned pink again. "I mean... if you wanna talk about it."

"Mmmm..." Taichi leaned back and folded his arms, staring up at the ceiling. "Nothing to talk about. We just got in a fight. I keep getting home late... I can't help it, I work. And he gets pissed because I wanna go out with my friends instead of staying home with him... and when I get time off he's gotta go off on some tour..."

Daisuke nodded sympathetically. "Being a big rock star must be really tiring."

"No," Taichi snapped, suddenly remembering Yamato's argument. "Being a rock star isn't tiring, it's FUN. Fun shit might tire you out, but it's FUN. Being a fucking accountant so you can afford a nice apartment and a bullshit relationship is what's fucking tiring."

"Oh," Daisuke squeaked, his eyes large. "Um... maybe you're tired! Maybe you should get some sleep-"

"I fucking hate Yamato sometimes," Taichi growled, his eyes narrowing. He turned and met Daisuke's gaze. "I don't know why the hell we're still together. It was better when we were just friends. And sure, he's hot, who the hell cares? His fans see more of his ass than I do, and when he's around all he does is bitch at me."

"Um... what does he... complain about?" Daisuke asked, carefully avoiding cursing like he always had around Taichi.

"Like I said, I'm not around enough. What the hell ever. Oh, and I always want sex. ALWAYS. Fucking asshole, damn right I always want sex. I'm in my fucking prime! He's the one that wanted a monogamous relationship, and he's out there selling his ass on stage as bad as it would be if he was just a fucking hooker. Chicks THROW themselves at him. MEN throw themselves at him. Me? I have to stay home and be a good boyfriend, and not go to bars, and never touch anyone else. It's fucking bull."

"Well... maybe... you should talk to him about it." Daisuke pouted a little. "I don't think it's very romantic to have an open relationship but... maybe that would work for you."

Sighing heavily and feeling the anger fade from his body, Taichi leaned back again. "Nah. I don't wanna fuck around. I just wanna fuck my boyfriend. I just want somebody who'll actually... let me touch them... and maybe like me for who I am and stuff..." Opening one eye, Taichi frowned. "I should shut up before I get really embarrassing, huh?"

Daisuke's eyes were cast downwards, and he shook his head slowly. "No, it's okay."

"Mm. Haven't seen you in years and the first thing I do is bitch about my relationship problems. Sorry." He opened his other eye and leaned forward, smirking. "I bet your love life is way more interesting than mine."

"No. The person I've always liked is... out of my league." Daisuke grinned in a sad sort of way and finally looked up to meet Taichi's gaze. "But Yamato-san should like Taichi-senpai for who he is. Taichi-senpai is great.. and really cool... and-"

"I'm not as great as you think." Taichi smirked. "You don't still think I'm some perfect idol do you?"

Daisuke pouted a bit and ducked his head, looking up at Taichi through his bangs. "I'm not stupid. I know you're rude, and a jerk sometimes, and all you think about is soccer and sex, and you eat more than five of me combined, and you're not that great at school stuff..."

Taichi winced with every new item, slowly sulking down into the couch. "Ouch. Guess you do know me."

"Yeah." Daisuke looked up again and smiled gently. "But Taichi-senpai is also really nice, and he always takes care of other people before himself, and he's a really great big brother, and he's awesome at soccer and he's always in shape and... he was always nicer to me than anybody."

Taichi licked his lips, suddenly noticing just how pink Daisuke's lips were. "Yeah," he mumbled, staring at them. "Well, you deserved people bein' nice to you. You're a pretty great guy yourself." 'Damn... hard to resist someone complimenting me... never was good at that... just... don't do anything. It's fine to look, everyone looks! Just don't DO anything.'

Fisting his hands tightly on his legs, Daisuke's whole body tensed up. "T-Taichi... senpai?" His eyes were wide and his voice was hushed.

'His lips look so _soft_... it wouldn't hurt to just kiss him... just a little bit... everyone looks! And everyone steals a kiss here and there! It's normal! Yamato kisses those fangirls on the cheek on TV all the time! Lips are like cheeks! They're both just part of a face! So it's fine!' Taichi leaned in slowly, licking his lips, his eyes fixed on Daisuke's. "Yeah?"

"W-would you mind..." Daisuke's voice grew even more tense and he trembled as Taichi came closer.

"Mind...?" Taichi could feel the younger boy's breath on his face.

"Sleeping with me tonight?" The words came out barely audibly, and Daisuke was trembling visibly.

Freezing, Taichi could hear his own heart race. Suddenly, Daisuke wasn't just another sexy guy, he was... something special. _Sleep_ with him? Images of Daisuke's body, naked and spread out beneath him, flashed before his eyes. But it wasn't just images of him moaning and spreading his legs... it was something else as well... something much more delicate feeling than pure lust... "Daisuke..." Taichi heard his own voice come out softly. "I..."

Throwing himself forward, Daisuke clung tightly to the front of Taichi's shirt and buried his face in his chest, letting out a sob. "They... they said... they said the ghost would start showing up after a week! And it's been a week! And... and... and I'm scared!"

The rose tinted images that had danced before his eyes a moment ago shattered like breaking glass, and the strange feeling in his chest evaporated with them. "You're... scared."

"Uh... uh huh!" Daisuke suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing and released Taichi, but he didn't sit back very far. His face was bright red, and he gave Taichi an earnest look. "Please sleep with me? My bed's real big and it's way more comfortable than the couch! It'll be like camping out or something!"

Running a hand through his hair and letting out a long, slow breath, Taichi forced himself to grin. "Yeah, Daisuke. Sure." 'I'm gonna have to jerk off real good tomorrow, all these hormones are getting to my head,' he thought, standing up.

Daisuke relaxed visibly and sat back again, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Taichi-senpai," he said, grinning sheepishly. "I'll feel a lot better with you here."


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Notes: As always, thank you for all the reviews and guesses and comments! They're so much fun to read and they keep me inspired! I hope this stays interesting for everyone!

Chapter 3

"I'll feel a lot better with you here, he says," Taichi mumbled to himself before breaking into another huge yawn. He fumbled in his pockets for his keys and slowly frowned. "Shit... musta left 'em..." Lifting a hand and knocking on the door, Taichi took a deep breath and tried to look less exhausted than he felt, but it wasn't easy. After all, he'd barely slept all night.

A frazzled looking Yamato opened the door. For a long moment the two boys just stared at each other, and Taichi wondered if this would be the time that Yamato melted a little, maybe this would be the time they didn't have to 'talk it out', maybe this would be the time Yamato would just hug him and say he was sorry and that would be that.

"You look tired," Yamato said in a cold voice.

Shutting his eyes and sighing, Taichi felt that icy air radiating from Yamato, just like it had every time they fought. "I didn't really sleep." Stepping into their apartment, Taichi kicked off his shoes and tried to swallow a yawn, but that just made it worse.

"Dare I ask what you were _doing_ all night? Or where you were?" Yamato asked, his voice even and calm, hiding what Taichi knew was a frightening amount of anger.

"You won't ever guess who I ran into," Taichi said, deciding he was too tired to care about their fight, and to just pretend it had never happened. He grinned a little and sat on the couch and stretched.

Yamato arched an eyebrow, but otherwise remained expressionless. Taichi had always admired his ability to make delicate, careful motions like that. He was always so deliberate, so precise. Lately, however, Taichi had begun to hate his precision.

"Daisuke," Taichi continued, still grinning. "Ran into him last night. Crashed at his place, figured... well, we could both use some space."

A strange brushed over Yamato's face, but he quickly corrected it and went back to looking calm. "He must have some interesting stories."

"Huh?" Taichi asked, not sure what Yamato was leading him into, and he tensed just a bit, waiting for the trap to snap shut around him.

"Well, if you were so engrossed in talking to him that you didn't call to let me know where you were, or when you'd be home, he must have been quite distracting." He paused again, and then frowned a bit. "Why didn't you sleep, again?"

Making a face, Taichi gritted his teeth. 'What the hell, thinking I cheated on him with _Daisuke_? ...Okay, so... maybe I kinda wanted to, but I DIDN'T and that's the important thing!' "Talking."

"Oh, so he _did_ have interesting stories," Yamato said, still standing in the same spot. "How has he been, then?" His eyes narrowed. "Did he miss you?"

Feeling himself lose it, Taichi jumped up and fisted his hands. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

As always, Taichi's outburst was enough to trigger Yamato's, and the icy cool in the room turned to a full winter storm. "What do you _think_ it means, Yagami? Do you really expect that _you _and _Daisuke _were up all night having a _conversation_?"

Taichi gaped at him, shocked at the implication. "Are you calling Daisuke STUPID!"

Yamato's lips quirked into an angry grin. "Protective, aren't we? I believe I was calling you _both_ the same thing."

Stepping forward and grabbing the front of Yamato's shirt in a fist, Taichi felt himself trembling in anger. "Take it back."

"Why the hell should I?" Yamato grabbed Taichi's arm and squeezed his wrist, sneering at him. "You're the one fucking around."

"Who the HELL said I was fucking around!" Taichi shouted in Yamato's face. "Why the hell do you ALWAYS think I'm cheating on you!"

"Probably because you ALWAYS look guilty!" Yamato shot back, turning red in the face.

"Just because your parents couldn't keep it together isn't any reason to not trust ME, or are you still just a scared little-" Taichi was cut off when Yamato yanked him down and kneed him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. Taichi hadn't been expecting that, although he knew he should have. That was the one thing he'd made sure never to bring up... he knew that the moment he did Yamato would just get even more pissed. He fell to the floor and gasped for air, feeling his whole body ache with the fear of not being able to breathe for a few seconds.

Yamato hesitated, staring down at Taichi, his anger wavering for a moment, wondering if he should feel guilty or not, when Taichi grabbed his ankle and yanked it out from under him so Yamato fell to the ground.

"You bastard," Taichi hissed, climbing on top of Yamato and trying to pin him down, glaring in his face. "What the fuck was that for!"

Yamato struggled against Taichi's grip, but he wasn't quite strong enough to push the other boy off of him. He had once been able to keep up with his friend, but in the past few years Taichi had begun exercising more, and Yamato had exercised less, and now they were quite unbalanced. "You had NO right to say that," he growled back, flushed with anger. "Don't fucking talk about my parents like you know anything."

"I know you're all FUCKED UP because of them, and I know _I _was the one that helped you get over it, or have you forgotten that! Remember, we were _friends_ a long time ago, and you _trusted_ me. What the fuck happened to that!" Taichi yelled in his face, feeling the sting of betrayal and the anger radiating off of his once jogress-partner's body.

"Who the hell ever said _you_ helped me get over it!" Yamato shouted back.

Taichi froze, staring down at Yamato in shock for a long time, and then he took a loud gasp of air and moved off of Yamato, sitting back a few feet away from him and staring at him quietly.

Yamato sat up and rubbed his wrists, still glaring at Taichi and feeling altogether undignified. He hated fighting, he especially hated getting into these childish physical fights, but it was almost as if that was the only way they knew how to relate these days.

Taichi was breathing deeply, slowly, and finally he grinned a sad sort of grin and shook his head, chuckling. "I didn't fuck him. I didn't kiss him. I didn't even touch him, not like that. I've never cheated on you, Yama."

Hesitating, Yamato let that sink in, and finally decided that Taichi was telling the truth, technically, although he was sure that wasn't the whole truth. Maybe he hadn't done it, but that didn't mean he hadn't wanted to. Still, it was something, wasn't it? It wasn't as if he'd never wanted to... "Are you alright?" he asked, glancing at Taichi's gut where he'd thrust his knee into him.

"Yeah, whatever," Taichi said, glancing away. His grin was gone already, and he was shutting down.

Yamato hated it when Taichi shut down, it wasn't right. Taichi _never _used to shut down. "I'm sorry." Taichi looked back at him, trying to keep his expression fixed and emotionless, but his eyes betrayed him. He was hurt. Yamato winced at his expression.

"Yeah. Me, too," Taichi responded, feeling sore and tired all over again.

"You know that I-" Yamato was cut off by a rapid knock on the door. He gritted his teeth, feeling the moment pass. He wasn't sure what he'd been about to say... maybe that he loved Taichi. Maybe that he cared about him. Maybe that he hadn't cheated, either. Whatever it was, it was gone now.

Taichi looked exhausted as he got up and went to the door. His hair was out of place, his shirt was wrinkled and stretched from the fight, and he moved slowly and carefully because of the ache in his gut. He reached for the doorknob, feeling cold all over, just like he had when he was soaked to the bone from the rain.

"Sorry for not calling ahead, but my cell ran out of batteries, and I thought you might need these, so-" Daisuke said quickly, looking a little frightened at Taichi's appearance. He held out the keys that he'd found on the floor after Taichi had left at arm's length, and stepped back a little. "They must have fallen out of your pants when you took them off!" he added, trying to sound cheerful. "Since you told me where you lived, in case... in case I needed anything, I thought you'd need these, so... I brought them by..."

Taichi slowly felt the chill in the air fade away, and his next few breaths warmed his lungs. "Thanks," he said, stepping back, not sure if he should invite Daisuke in or not.

Yamato had quickly adjusted his hair and shirt, with that ability he'd always had to hide that he'd been angry or upset only moments before, and gave Daisuke a friendly grin. "When he was taking off his pants, hm? What exactly have you been doing to my boyfriend, Daisuke-kun?" he asked in a tone that made Taichi wince. It may have sounded like a joke, but that little bit of venom that they still had told him that it was half serious.

Daisuke smiled at Yamato a little more genuinely, obviously thinking that everything was fine if Yamato was talking to him. "He just crashed at my place 'cause I asked him to," he said. "My apartment's haunted!" he continued cheerfully, kicking his shoes off and helping himself into their apartment.

Taichi glanced at Yamato, wondering if this was alright, but Yamato just grinned at him in a way that made Taichi want to warn Daisuke to leave. This was not a good time. He wasn't sure there ever _would _be a good time, but this was most definitely not it.

"Haunted?" Yamato asked. "By what?"

"I dunno," Daisuke said, smiling at Yamato. "But probably they won't bother me after they saw Taichi-senpai! He'd scare off any ghosts!"

Taichi couldn't help but grin a bit at that statement, feeling affectionate all over again for Daisuke's unending belief in him.

"Well, he _is_ a little scary looking, isn't he? Especially right now, when he hasn't slept. What _were _you talking about that kept him up all night? Don't you know if he doesn't sleep he looks like the undead?" Yamato smirked a little, giving Taichi a somewhat friendly look, as if Daisuke's presence was putting him back in the mode they'd been in when they were still in college, before things had become like this.

Taichi had just started to grin back when Daisuke gave him a concerned look.

"You didn't sleep?" he asked, looking worried. "I'm sorry! Was my bed too umcomfortable?"

Yamato's friendly expression quickly faded. "Your bed?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Daisuke replied, grinning at Yamato. "Taichi-senpai slept with me since I was kinda scared." He laughed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Guess I'm not used to living alone, yet!"

Taichi swallowed hard, feeling as if the air had been knocked out of him again. "Uh, see... it wasn't... I mean..."

"So why _couldn't_ you sleep, Taichi?" Yamato asked, beginning to ignore Daisuke.

Gritting his teeth, Taichi forced a grin and shrugged. "Guess I was kinda stressed out, that's all."

"Because of your fight?" Daisuke asked in concern, turning to Yamato. "I'm sure Taichi-senpai didn't mean whatever it is he did, he just says stuff without thinking!"

Yamato's eyes narrowed when he looked at Daisuke. "I see you've inherited a few traits from him, then."

Daisuke blinked at him cluelessly. "Huh?"

"I wasn't talking about you or anything, Yama, I was just-" Taichi tried to say quickly, hoping to calm the mounting tenseness in the room.

"You were just what?" Yamato asked, looking cold as ice again.

Taichi winced, he knew that being talked about was one of Yamato's pet-peeves. "I was just talking about... how much fighting sucks and stuff!"

Daisuke suddenly gaped at them. "Hey, am I making this worse?"

Yamato shut his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Daisuke and grinning a little sadly. "No, Daisuke-kun, this isn't something anyone can effect but us."

Taichi moaned unhappily and reached up, tugging on his hair a little in frustration. "What are we even _fighting_ about, anyway?"

"I don't think we should talk about this now, Taichi," Yamato replied, feeling bad suddenly for dragging Daisuke into this, especially after not having seen him for so long.

"Yeah? I think now's a damn good time to talk about it!" Taichi replied, frustrated.

"Don't you think that's a little _rude_, Taichi? We have a _guest_," Yamato said, looking horrified at Taichi's manners, despite having known him for so long.

"Daisuke isn't a _guest_, he's a _friend_. And I don't give a fuck if he sees us fight!" Taichi turned to give Daisuke a serious look. "Do _you_ care?"

"Uh... no, I mean," Daisuke mumbled, feeling that he definitely _did_ care. He couldn't stand being around fighting, it made his stomach hurt, it made him feel dizzy, and it made him want to cry. He _hated _crying, especially in front of other people.

"See, he doesn't care!" Taichi said, cutting him off.

"Of course he cares, Taichi, you're so..." Yamato let out a frustrated noise and glared at him. "Can you just think about someone _else _for a minute!"

"Someone _else_! That's all I _do_ around here, is think about you!" Taichi retorted.

Daisuke shut his eyes tightly, feeling his heart racing as the yelling continued. "Please," he said softly.

"Oh, is _that_ what you call it? Thinking about _me_?" Yamato yelled back.

"Please, stop," Daisuke said a little more loudly, his eyes still shut.

"What the hell do you call it! My whole fucking life revolves around you, and US, and-"

"STOP!" Daisuke shouted, cutting them off.

Taichi and Yamato turned to stare at him, both of them stunned.

Daisuke opened his eyes and gave them both an angry look, his eyes just a little wet from trying not to cry. "You both sound stupid! Stop fighting, it just makes things worse! Talk about it like grown-ups or hit each other and get it over with, but stop YELLING!" he yelled.

Yamato tensed up, feeling absolutely stupid. He shut his eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry, Daisuke-kun, I-"

"Daisuke," Taichi mumbled, still stunned.

"You're right. It doesn't help anything." Yamato grinned a forced grin. "But sometimes it happens."

"Well, it shouldn't." Daisuke pouted at him, then at Taichi. "You're both acting like my parents! You wanna get a divorce or what!"

Taichi chuckled, looking slightly amused. "We can't get a divorce, Daisuke, we're not married."

Yamato pursed his lips. "That's right. Besides, we're not breaking up."

Staring at Yamato in a tired sort of way, Taichi wondered how long that was going to be his friend's mantra.

"Then stop fighting," Daisuke said. Then, slowly smiling again, he held out the keys. "I'll go home. You should talk and make up and stuff, or you'll be bad examples for me."

Taichi took the keys, his fingers brushing Daisuke's hand as he did so. It was warm.

"I'll call before I come over, next time, but you better not be fighting then!" Daisuke went back to the door and slipped on his shoes again. He waved and left, shutting the door behind him, and the room immediately went back to ice.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Pulsing bass and flashing lights greeted him as he stepped through the doors of the club. Feeling terrified, he almost turned tail and ran, but then he remembered why he'd come. He'd gone away for college, and he'd never been to a club like this before, so he'd promised himself that the minute he was back in Tokyo he'd go to one. This one was the one his senpai used to go to. He knew, because he'd heard him talking about it, and Daisuke had made a quick note of the name on his math book so he wouldn't forget. His teacher hadn't been pleased when she saw it.

So now, here he was, walking slowly into the loud, crowded, humid club. Along the far wall was a bar, and there were some seats along the exterior, but most of the huge building seemed to be one giant dance floor. Here and there were platforms for go-go boys to dance on, and they were wearing what could be described as angel and devil costumes, but what was really more just thongs with horns or wings. Daisuke quickly averted his eyes from the dancers, and stared around himself, trying to take in as much as he could, without looking back at the mostly-naked people. (That was way too embarrassing, and they made him blush - blushing was NOT cool.) The noise of the music and people yelling over it, the sensation of having more and more people crowding in behind him and around him and next to him until he was forced into the writhing mass of bodies on the dance floor, and the _smell_ of so many peoples' sweaty bodies, and of course the people dancing above them in thongs was all just too overwhelming.

A panicked feeling welled up inside of him when he turned and realized he'd already been pulled in by the bustle of the crowd so far that he couldn't see the exit. He was trapped! He was trapped in this horrible noisy place that smelled like people's underarms and he was never going to escape and he was going to DIE there!

Suddenly he wondered if Taichi had smelled like underarms when he was here, like the rest of the crowd. 'Nah,' he thought, feeling a little dizzy at the thought of his senpai here, dancing so close to all of these strange people. 'Taichi-senpai could never smell that bad.'

Before he panicked again, Daisuke decided that he'd better get a drink and see if it calmed his nerves. Taichi had come to this club, so it must be fun, right? He squeezed by and shoved past more scantily clad men than he thought existed in Tokyo, and more than a few women kissing each other and wearing nothing but bras and mini-skirts, as well. He was almost to the bar when he felt the distinct sensation of someone grabbing his ass.

Spinning around, Daisuke was prepared to give the person a stout glare and possibly hit them, when he realized there were too many people there to tell who had done it. No one was looking at him, but the crowd around him was constantly shifting and he couldn't keep his eyes on more than one person at a time. Flustered and angry, he glared at all of them, deciding that was the best way to handle the situation. That's when he saw them.

Two women were dancing together amidst the crowd of mostly men, but they didn't even seem to notice the noise or the bodies shoving past them. Their eyes were on each other, and they seemed completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Daisuke's jaw dropped when he saw the older girl's hands rest on the younger girl's ass. The older woman pulled the girl closer, and their lips locked in a hungry kiss.

"HIKARI-CHAN!" Daisuke yelled, pointing at them and gaping. The crowd around him parted and everyone stared at him.

The women broke their kiss quickly and looked over at him. Hikari's blinked at him, and then her face was covered in a nice pink blush. "Daisuke-kun!"

Sora's jaw dropped, then she laughed. "Oh, it _is_! Daisuke-kun, what are you doing here!"

Daisuke hesitantly walked over to them, taking a long, deep breath. 'Sora-san's hands are on Hikari-chan's... her... her bottom. Sora-san was _kissing _Hikari-chan!' He tried to force the shocked expression from his face, but he was only somewhat successful. "Hi," he said, feeling like his voice would never be heard over the music. At least they weren't wearing thongs, he thought, eyeing them. Sora was wearing tight leather pants and boots, and a tank top, and Daisuke was suddenly not sure why he ever thought she was straight. Hikari, on the other hand, was dressed in a small black lacy skirt and a lacy top to match, with small pink bows all over it, like those creepy gothic lolita girls that had always frightened him.

"Are you here for a visit?" Sora asked, smiling at him, completely oblivious as to why he'd be so shocked.

"I... I moved back," Daisuke said hesitantly, still staring at Hikari in shock.

"Daisuke-kun, I..." she began, looking nervous and worried and embarrassed all at once.

Daisuke cocked his head slowly, then realized what HE would be worried about if HE were here in a dress, and he was Taichi's little sister. Then he choked on his own spit at the thought, and hacked for a moment before giving Hikari an embarrassed smile and shaking his head. "Don't worry! I won't tell Taichi-senpai!" he scratched the back of his neck and grinned.

Hikari gave him a thankful grin. "Thank you, Daisuke-kun. Oniichan... well, he doesn't know that I... prefer..."

"That she's a lesbian," Sora said helpfully. "Or that she's dating me," she said, finishing the statement with a large grin, and tugging Hikari a bit closer.

A sudden wave of relief washed over Daisuke, and he felt as if damage that he hadn't been aware was still there was finally healed. "So THAT'S why!" he said, pointing at them again rudely.

"That's why what?" Hikari asked, still blushing faintly from Sora's assertion.

"Why you never-" Daisuke cut himself off, slapping a hand over his mouth. Saying 'why you never dated me,' would probably sound silly.

"What was that?" Hikari asked, blinking at him.

Daisuke smiled as widely as he could and shook his head quickly. "Nothing, never mind! So uh... you're dating, huh?"

Hikari blushed, ducking her head a bit. "Yes, but Oniichan..."

Sora shrugged. "He'll find out eventually, but right now would be a bad time to tell him. He's got his own problems."

Daisuke frowned a bit, nodding. "I heard." His relief was quickly washed away with concern for his senpai again.

Sora grinned at him in a sly way and cocked her head. "I always _thought_ you were gay, but I didn't expect to see you _here_, Daisuke-kun."

Daisuke's eyes widened and he suddenly remembered that they weren't the only ones that had been caught. "I um... I..." he flailed a bit, massively embarrassed and unsure what to say. "Well, I didn't know you were, either!" He said, pouting, as if that made it fair.

Hikari giggled a bit and shook her head. "Takeru is here as well," she said. "So it's not just you."

"Takeru is!" Daisuke felt his stomach lurch. "He's... he's here with _you_! With _both_ of you!" Images, horrible images, danced before his eyes. Horrible images, and a sudden massive shock of rejection. BOTH of them were dating Takeru! TOGETHER!

Sora made a face and yanked Hikari into a tight hug. "Of course not. He's at the bar, looking for cute boys. Go join him."

"Oh, oh man..." Daisuke breathed deeply, feeling dizzy from all the strange emotions and the noise and the smell (although Hikari and Sora didn't seem to smell, maybe girls didn't make armpit smell? That could be a point for liking girls, he supposed, but then again, not stinking when you're sweaty was sort of creepy - and once again assured him that girls were simply freakish aliens that it was nothing but unnatural to be attracted to.) Lost in thought, Daisuke barely noticed that Hikari was deeply squashed into Sora's cleavage and probably extremely embarrassed at his blank expression and staring.

Leaving the (creepy un-stinky) girls, Daisuke turned and shoved his way through the rest of the crowd, looking around for the bar. Finally he spotted it and made his way over to it, looking for any head of blond hair he could find. Realizing quickly that a lot of guys had their hair bleached and that wouldn't be enough to spot Takeru, he walked closer and peered at each person's face. It was surprisingly hard to find someone in the flashing strobe lights, and that only made him more resentful that Hikari and Sora had recognized him. Maybe he needed glasses? He wondered if he'd look cute in glasses, and then quickly corrected himself; he wondered if he'd look cool in glasses.

"Daisuke?" a familiar voice asked from behind him.

Turning and blinking at the person that he'd just passed he sighed heavily. Yes, he really hoped he'd look cool in glasses, because he was clearly blind. "Hey, Takeru."

"What are you doing here?" Takeru asked, his eyes wide with shock.

"Being caught," Daisuke replied, as if that explained everything completely.

Takeru arched an eyebrow. "Want a drink?" He patted the bar stool next to him and took another sip of whatever it was in his glass. His face was tinted a bit pink, and Daisuke was pretty sure he'd been drinking a while.

"Um... maybe later," Daisuke said, not sure he wanted to be drunk in front of Takeru.

Talking as if no time had passed and they had nothing to catch up on, Takeru sighed and set his chin in his hand. "I hate it here."

Daisuke grinned just a bit at the statement. So, maybe it was okay to hate it? Not that Takeru was cool, but if he got away with hating it, maybe Daisuke could as well. Maybe no one would think that was silly after all. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. They only make me come so Taichi-san's parents think she's hanging out at _my_ house," Takeru said, sounding a bit resentful.

Feeling a strange unfamiliar sensation of pity for the blond boy, Daisuke patted his back awkwardly. "So you're not gay?"

"No, I am," Takeru mumbled.

Daisuke quickly yanked his hand away, in case Takeru got any ideas. Drunk people always hit on anyone that touched them in movies, and Daisuke wasn't sure he could handle that.

"Aren't you?" Takeru asked, eyeing him.

"M-maybe!" Daisuke shot back angrily, his temper flaring quickly at the accusation.

Staring at him quietly as if he was still used to Daisuke's outbursts, Takeru waited for him to calm down.

"...Yeah. Kinda," Daisuke mumbled, looking away, back into the crowd. He was prepared for Takeru's smart-ass comeback. He was totally prepared. This time he'd think of something clever to say in return!

But the witty remark that Takeru always said to tease him never came. Instead the blond boy just looked sort of... sad. Daisuke frowned, wanting to ask him what was wrong, but it seemed odd to talk about things like that in this noisy place, with flashing lights so they couldn't really see each other. If he was going to have an embarrassing heart-to-heart with a half-drunk Takeru, he wanted to do it right.

"I'm bored!" he proclaimed loudly, hopping up.

Takeru murmured an agreement.

"Wanna come over?" Daisuke asked, forcing a grin and trying to be friendly. "I have my own place now and everything!" The entire concept of inviting Takeru over to hang out would have been far less embarrassing if he hadn't had that nagging voice in the back of his head letting him know that half the reason was just because he was scared of the ghost coming after him, and he didn't want to be home alone.

Takeru grinned slowly, then nodded. "Sure."

Daisuke sighed in relief. If Takeru had rejected his offer, he'd have had to have gone home and offered himself up to the ghost to be eaten - or whatever it is ghosts did once they caught you - because he just couldn't live that sort of thing down even if he was the only one who knew about it. After all, he was very good at reminding himself about his stupid mistakes.

Awkward was not the word. Terrifying wasn't the right word either, Daisuke mused to himself, his gaze floating around the room, landing anywhere but on his friend. Maybe there was a word that meant something like both awkward _and_ terrifying. Something like that might work. Not that he was _afraid _of the blond boy, of course not! It was more that the situation was awkward _beyond_ awkwardness. It was awkward to the point where it could never _be_ more awkward. Because of that, it was definitely terrifying. Daisuke never let himself forget an embarrassment, a mistake, or any of the uncomfortable situations he'd gotten himself into. This was turning out to be worst than most, which meant he'd remember it all the more clearly. He wondered for a brief moment if new memories erased the old ones, and if that was why you forgot your childhood more as you aged. Suddenly he wondered if wonderful things had happened to him, but he'd erased those memories with ones of his stupidity and screw-ups. The thought just made him angry at himself, and he felt his forehead wrinkle with determination to never do anything embarrassing again... just in case.

"Daisuke?" Takeru's voice broke the silence, and caused Daisuke to jerk and fall right out of the chair he was sitting on.

"So much for that," Daisuke mumbled, getting back up and sighing.

Used to Daisuke's oddities, Takeru just continued with what he was going to say. "You have a very nice apartment."

"Yeah, except for the ghost it's real cool!" Daisuke said, grinning widely and trying to feel brave. After a moment's hesitation he folded his arms and crossed his right leg over his left. That was how Taichi-senpai would sit sometimes when he was being cool and unafraid, Daisuke wondered if it would make him look cool, too.

Takeru looked amused. "Ghosts aren't real."

"Of course ghosts are real! What are you stupid? Only little kids think ghosts aren't real," Daisuke replied, sticking his nose into the air in a superior sort of way. He smirked.

That only made Takeru laugh, and he leaned back on the couch, resting his head against the cushions and staring up at the ceiling. "You're funny, Daisuke. You haven't changed a bit."

Scowling at his so-called friend, Daisuke folded his arms tighter. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing," Takeru replied, letting out one last giggle. "It doesn't mean anything." He cocked his head and stared at Daisuke lazily from his slouched position against the cushions. "I missed you."

Daisuke's eyes widened. "You did not," he replied accusingly. "That's just what you have to say to be nice and stuff when someone's been gone."

Shaking his head quickly, Takeru quickly replied, "No. I really did miss you. You're my friend, of course I missed you."

'Friend,' Daisuke thought, looking down at the carpet quickly. They _had_ been friends, hadn't they? How many times had the blond boy used that word on him? A few, at least. How many times had he used it in return? ...Not as many. Not nearly as many. Suddenly Daisuke felt guilty. "You're my friend, too," he replied gruffly, relaxing a bit.

Smiling widely, showing off his all too perfect teeth, Takeru nodded. "I know."

It was awkward again suddenly. Too much time had passed, Daisuke decided, far too much time. He'd have to get Takeru talking, or they'd just sit like this forever, until they died of old age or starvation, whichever came first. He licked his lips quickly and felt how dry his mouth had become, but he didn't want to get up and get a glass of water. Standing up seemed awkward as well. From his armchair, Daisuke felt safe. If he got up he'd be put on the spot, his back would be wide open. He preferred sitting and being dry. "So, what did I miss?" he asked, hoping to sound casual, and not thirsty at all.

"Miss?" Takeru asked, shrugging slightly. "All sorts of fun things," he replied, chuckling.

That made Daisuke feel jealous, very jealous. "Yeah? Like what? Watching lesbians grope each other and sitting all alone getting drunk?" he spat back bitterly. He wasn't sure why this had made him so angry. Maybe because Takeru had been here with his friends. Maybe because Takeru could call someone a friend without feeling so nervous. Maybe because he'd been all alone, without any friends at all, for so long. Whatever the reason was, it was too late to matter. He'd already started a fight.

Blue eyes narrowed until they seemed to darken in the absence of light. "Oh, and I suppose you had so much else to do. I'm sure I missed out on some _thrilling_ parties."

"That's right, I had lots to do!" Daisuke sat forward in his chair, putting his foot down and unfolding his arms. His hands were fisted now, and his nails were digging into his palms.

"Like what?" Takeru challenged him, also sitting forward. "Changing grandmother's diapers?"

Daisuke was up and across the room before Takeru had finished the sentence. He stood over the other boy, suddenly not caring if his back was open, not caring if he wasn't in his safe chair. It was more important to be in the other boy's face, to yell at him, maybe to hit him. Deep inside, Daisuke knew that Takeru had simply struck a nerve, but he wasn't willing to admit that even to himself. Instead, he simply yelled. "What do you know! You're... you're not even really Japanese!"

Takeru's eyes widened, and then he began to laugh. "Now I know you've been living in the middle of nowhere! I haven't heard anyone say that to me since I was in pre-school, and I never expected it from you!"

Daisuke's anger faded quickly and he knew Takeru was right. He wasn't one of those people who cared about things like full blood or family lines. Sure, his family always had been, and everyone he'd been around the past few years was, but he'd never cared. It had simply seemed the best defense at the time. His lips quirked up into a small bitter grin. "Guess that's all I can say to you. Your life is perfect. You don't have any other faults."

Dropping his gaze, Takeru shook his head. "Oniichan..." his voice cracked in the middle of the name, as if it was painful to say. "Oniichan stopped them that time. He promised me that it wasn't a fault."

Guilt washed over him, and Daisuke took a step back. "It's not." He pursed his lips and looked away. "M'sorry."

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean it." Takeru glanced up at Daisuke and grinned sadly. "But my life isn't perfect, Daisuke-kun. My life is far from perfect."

Daisuke made a face. "Yeah, right. At least you got to go to school with your friends! At least you had fun! At least you weren't stuck in the country with your smelly old grandmother and a bunch of rice farmers!"

"Then why did you move? Why did you stay out there if it was so horrible?" Takeru asked, looking slightly annoyed.

"Because I couldn't be here!" Daisuke shouted, wincing at the loudness of his own voice. His gaze dropped again and he sighed, running a hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I couldn't stay."

"Mm," Takeru murmured, nodding slightly. "I couldn't leave. For the same reason."

Daisuke looked up and their gazes met. "You know why I left." It wasn't a question. He knew Takeru knew. He knew pretty much everyone knew, except for probably Taichi.

"The person I care about won't speak to me. They won't be with me. They say it's... wrong. That we're wrong. But I can't leave them. Maybe your way is better... it's probably less painful than being around him all the time." Takeru swallowed hard, and suddenly looked exhausted.

Reaching out with a trembling hand, Daisuke poked Takeru in the forehead, not knowing what else to do. When the blue eyes looked up and met his own again, he forced a grin. "Some people are like that, though. Some people don't like guys liking other guys."

Takeru's eyes widened, then he chuckled. "Yes. Some people don't."

"So you have to find someone who does," Daisuke finished, lowering his hand and feeling something click into place in his mind. "If the person you like doesn't like you, you have to find someone who does! You can't just pine after the same person forever, that's pathetic! We're not pathetic, we're chosen children, and we don't have to mope around like girls!"

"If I hadn't had so many drinks before I saw you, I don't think you'd be making much sense, Daisuke." Takeru's eyes sparkled in amusement. "But I did, and you are."

"Then we'll do it!" Daisuke said, feeling the beginnings of a smile.

"Alright," Takeru replied, wondering what exactly he was agreeing to. "Do what?"

"Set you up with a _real_ gay guy!" Daisuke replied, slapping Takeru hard on the shoulder. "Then you won't be sad!"

Wincing, Takeru stood quickly. "No! No, I don't want-"

"Do you want to be a girl!" Daisuke asked, trying to look threatening. "You're being a girl! You're being stupid, moping after whoever this guy is forever!" He poked Takeru's nose this time, nodding firmly. "Don't worry, I know the perfect guy!"

Takeru opened his mouth to say something to deter Daisuke, or to point out that he was doing exactly the same thing, and also that it was quite sexist to claim that it was a feminine trait to be obsessed with someone, but he didn't get a chance - because he had to scream. Something cold very softly brushed against his naked ankle. Something very cold, and very unnatural feeling. So he did scream and jump, and jumped right onto Daisuke, which made Daisuke scream and jump, and they both tumbled onto the floor.

They lay there frozen, panting, pale and drenched in cold sweat for a full minute, staring into each other's eyes silently. Daisuke was on his back on the floor, and Takeru was kneeling over him, a hand pressed to his chest, and the other on the floor next to Daisuke's head.

Finally, Takeru spoke. "You know, maybe I do believe in ghosts. A little," he said, hearing his own voice shake.

"Yeah, I told you," Daisuke replied, laughing nervously. He'd felt it, too. "You wanna get off me or what?"

"O-oh, sorry," Takeru said, not moving. He laughed again. "Sorry. My legs are a little... shaky."

Daisuke grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. But I'm glad you're scared, too."

That's when the door swung open. "Daisuke, I heard scream-" Yamato began to say, but he couldn't finish the words. Of all the reasons that he'd heard Daisuke screaming as he came up the stairs, this was not one he'd thought of.

"Ah! Yamato-san!" Daisuke said, shoving Takeru off of himself.

"Oniichan," Takeru said softly, sitting back onto the floor with a small thud.

"You... I wanted to talk to you. About yesterday. About..." Yamato trailed off, staring at the two boys. Then he forced a wide smile. "It can wait. Actually, it doesn't matter. I was worried about last night, about Taichi and you, but... obviously you're already involved with someone else."

"Yamato-san, it's not like that!" Daisuke said quickly, feeling a little bit frightened. He wondered what sort of wrath he'd incurred from having Yamato see them like this. What would the older boy do if he thought Daisuke was involved with his beloved little brother!

"It isn't! Oniichan, it's not-" Takeru began, but he was cut off by a sharp tone coming from his older brother's voice.

"It's fine," Yamato said stiffly. "You're not a little boy. You can do what you want."

The door slammed shut, and Daisuke stared at it, stunned. What had just happened exactly? He wanted to apologize to Takeru for the misunderstanding, or make a joke about it, but he couldn't turn to look at Takeru for a long time. It was rude to look at people when they cried, especially boys. He waited until Takeru was done crying.


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: Sorry for the delay, to anyone that might be reading this. I was really busy for a while, but things are back to normal, so I'll be updating much more regularly again. Thanks for your patience, and any feedback that you can give is really, really appreciated! Oh, and another thing I should note, all suffixes ('chan', 'kun', 'senpai', etc) or lack of suffix are entirely purposeful. I guess that's it for now! Thanks for reading!

**Chapter 5**

Uncomfortable was an under-statement. The rainy season seemed to have passed just in time for Takeru to have a bright, sunny, far-too-hot day for his little date. Standing there in front of the arcade, hands in his pockets, waiting for his date, Takeru seemed nervous. Finally, he was approached by an all-too-familiar indigo-haired boy, who looked flustered.

"Ken?" Takeru smiled in relief at the sight of his friend. "What a coincidence, what are you doing here?" His posture was relaxed now.

"Ah, it's not a coincidence," Ken replied, running a hand through his own hair in embarrassment. His posture was most definitely not relaxed. "Daisuke-kun asked me to come."

"Daisuke-kun?" Takeru blinked slowly before his face was covered in an attractive flush. "Don't tell me-"

"I'm your date," Ken said, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry."

"Mm," Takeru replied, shaking his head. "It's fine. We might as well have a good time, right? After all, I always-"

A car drove by at that very moment, drowning out what Takeru was saying, and sending a wave of filthy water from the gutter all over Yamato. Yes, uncomfortable was an under-statement. After all, he couldn't very well go out in public without some sort of disguise. Usually he just wore sunglasses and a hat, but today he had to not only fool anyone on the street who might recognize him, but his little brother as well. Of course, wearing an oversized trench coat was probably making him more suspicious than not, but it was too late to go home and change now. So here he was, covered in dirty water and sweating on top of that from wearing far too much in the heat, and his little brother had been about to say something that he was sure was vitally important.

"'I always...' you always what!" Yamato grumbled in irritation, crossing the street quickly to catch up with the boys, who were already walking down the sidewalk away from the arcade.

Yamato wondered briefly if stalking his little brother on the boy's first date in years was really ethical. Then he decided that he didn't care if it was ethical or not, he was going to do it anyway. Besides, Daisuke couldn't be that good of an influence, he idolized _Taichi_ for crying out loud (and Yamato knew how much fun dating _Taichi_ was), so there was no way that dating Daisuke could be good for his little brother. But it wasn't Daisuke that Takeru had met up with, it was Ken! Was this some sort of threesome? Were they going to meet up with Daisuke later? Or was his little brother so depressed that he was dating both of them! The thought made Yamato feel ill. Of course, it was possible that Daisuke was telling the truth and that he and Takeru weren't dating. If that were true, Yamato would only have to worry about Ken.

Watching the two boys awkwardly walk a little closer to each other than they usually did, Yamato grabbed the front of his coat and pulled it away from himself, blowing air down it and trying to keep himself from passing out. Normally he would have taken off his hat and fanned himself with it, but he thought someone might recognize him without it.

Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. It wasn't as if he and Takeru were on speaking terms, and he was fairly certain that his younger brother would not be happy with him if he ever found out that he'd been following him.

'Which is why I can't get caught,' Yamato thought, letting go of his coat and straightening his hat. He continued walking a few yards behind the couple (and he quickly corrected himself, thinking 'two boys, not couple!') until they entered a diner on the corner. 'A diner? You expect my little brother to like that sort of food after growing up eating my cooking?' Yamato scowled and hid behind a lamppost as Ken held the door open for Takeru. "You're definitely not good enough, you purple haired-"

"Mommy! The scary man is talking to the lamp!" a very young girl said, pointing up at him. The girl's mother grabbed her hand and pulled her away quickly. Suddenly Yamato was aware at how many people were staring at him in terror so he quickly adjusted his sunglasses and followed the boys into the diner.

Inside there was air conditioning, and Yamato took back his nasty thoughts about the diner. Anywhere with air conditioning was good enough right now. He stood in the entrance-way until Takeru and Ken were seated at their booth, and then he allowed the waitress to seat him.

"Sir, will this table be okay?" the waitress asked, standing a little farther away from him than she normally would, and giving Yamato a nervous look.

She was trying to seat him on the other side of the room. How was he supposed to tell what they were saying if he was all the way over here!

"I want to sit next to the windows," Yamato growled, keeping his voice low just in case. He'd had fangirls recognize him simply from his voice, even over the phone, and he couldn't be outed today.

The girl's lower lip trembled, and she sniffled hard, as if she was trying not to cry. "Y-yes sir, right this way..."

Yamato felt a little guilty for looking like a scary pervert, but it couldn't be helped. It was for Takeru's sake after all.

Once the girl had given him the booth directly behind Takeru's, Yamato had sat facing the other way, keeping his hat low on the back of his neck. Yes, this was better, he could hear everything they said from here. On top of that, the napkin holder was metal and reflective, and Takeru was facing his way. He'd be able to see every expression the boy made, in case Ken tried anything. Of course, he couldn't imagine Ken trying anything, but he also couldn't imagine his little brother dating the boy, so he was willing to be extra careful.

"I wanted to go somewhere nicer, but Daisuke-kun insisted that this was a good restaurant..." Ken's voice trailed off. "I didn't realize it was a diner."

Takeru smiled, shaking his head. "This is fine! A burger and fries sounds really good right now."

Takeru liked burgers and fries! Yamato's mind raced. He'd never cooked Takeru burgers and fries... he felt guilty. What if they were the boy's favorite foods and he'd only ever made fancy things that he was sure Takeru would enjoy? What if he liked simpler things? Yamato blinked hard and shook his head, trying to focus. Getting anxious over the past was miserable and not helpful at all. Today he needed to keep an eye on Takeru, and that's what he was going to do.

"May I take your order, sir?" the waitress asked, returning to Yamato's table.

Gritting his teeth, he gave her a dark glare from under his hat. "Coffee." He paused, realizing how hot he still was. "Iced. Nothing else."

The girl nodded and quickly stepped back, bumping into another waitress on her way to the kitchen, and causing the other girl to drop her plates, sending them clattering to the floor loudly.

"-which is why Daisuke-kun asked me to come today," Ken was saying.

Yamato's eyes grew large. WHAT was why! He'd missed something else important! Gritting his teeth and listening hard, trying to drown out the noise of the waitresses cleaning up the spilled mess, Yamato listened.

"I think he's worried about me," Takeru was saying, sounding a bit amused.

"He worries about everyone," Ken said, sounding fond. "It's a good trait, usually. He means well."

"Mm," Takeru said, smiling. "I know. But he doesn't figure things out very quickly, does he?"

"You mean he doesn't understand why you were upset," Ken said, not asking but stating it.

Takeru's smile faltered quickly. "He told you I was upset?"

"He said that you'd been rejected," Ken replied.

Takeru's face was flushed, Yamato could tell in the reflection of the napkin holder, and he scowled. Who would reject Takeru! He decided whoever it was, he'd make sure they'd pay. Then he sighed heavily, realizing just how much like Taichi he sounded. That thought distracted him, making him feel guilty. He'd told Taichi he had practice today. If this had been the old days, he'd have told him what was going on, and Taichi would have come along to help. They'd have laughed about it, spying on Takeru like he was some sort of criminal. Taichi understood what it was like to be an overprotective older brother, although possibly not as much as he was.

But Taichi wasn't here, and it wasn't the old days, and Yamato couldn't tell him. How could you ask for help from someone that was mad at you? How could you ask for help from someone who you'd just yelled at for the... how many times was it now? And had he ever really apologized for any of it? He wasn't sure, he just knew Taichi hadn't either.

"Of course I knew," Ken was saying, bringing Yamato's attention back quickly as the waitress sat down the large glass of cold coffee before she ran away. Yamato sipped at it quietly, sighing in relief at the taste of the cold liquid. Even in this air conditioning he was still sweating.

"Oh," Takeru replied quietly. His eyes were down-cast, and he looked sad. "Was it that obvious?"

"No, but Daisuke-kun sees a lot more than he understands, and he tells me." Ken sounded like he was smiling, and Yamato wanted to punch him. How could he be happy when Takeru looked like that!

"...You haven't said anything to anyone?" Takeru asked.

"I don't gossip. Besides, I understand," Ken replied.

"You... had the same feelings for-" Takeru began.

Ken laughed softly, cutting him off. "No, I just know what it's like to be... socially unacceptable."

Yamato shut his eyes tightly, unable to look at Takeru's reflection any longer. The boy looked upset, too upset to look at right now. 'Socially unacceptable?' Yamato thought. 'Being gay isn't anywhere near as bad as what Ken did. Or is that not what he means... Takeru might mean...' Yamato swallowed hard, shutting that thought off completely. He didn't want to think about that. That couldn't be what he was upset about, anyway.

When Yamato opened his eyes, the boys' food had arrived, and they were eating in silence. Finally, Takeru asked about Ken's studies, and the topic quickly turned to school and grades. Yamato was finally cooling down when the boys stood up to leave. Sighing heavily, Yamato stood up to leave only a moment after them, not wanting to fall too far behind.

"Sir," a small nervous voice said from behind him as he grabbed the handle to the front door.

"What?" Yamato asked, turning around and giving the girl an irritated look. He was in a hurry, couldn't she tell!

"You didn't... leave any money..." the girl squeaked.

Yamato blinked at her, then frowned and ran a hand through his hair in irritation, accidentally pushing his hat off. "I'm sorry. I've been absent-minded today. How much was it?"

The waitress didn't reply. She was staring at him in a very strange way.

Yamato pulled off his glasses so he could the receipt she was holding better before pulling out his wallet and handing her a few bills. "You can keep the change, I'm in a hurry.

"Y-yes, Ishida-san!" the girl said far too loudly.

Yamato rolled his eyes up and moaned. He wanted to slap his forehead in disgust at his own stupidity, but he'd been told that wasn't the most flattering way to present himself to his 'loving public.' He took a deep breath as the other waitresses and many of the customers began gathering around and he gave them his best 'stage smile,' trying to come up with something, ANYTHING, as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry if I seemed frightening, ladies. I've been solicited to do a role on a new drama, where I play a heartbroken man, bitter at the world because of his lost love. I wanted to practice my part."

"W-we-we understand!" the waitress half-screamed, and the other girls nodded in unison.

Yamato donned his hat and glasses again, and smiled at them once more before leaving. Once he was outside, he looked around franticly for Takeru and Ken, and then let out an unhappy moan. "Where are they! Which way did... shit. I lost them," he mumbled to himself, deciding to try going left. Turning on his heel and running through the crowded sidewalk, Yamato cursed himself for that display at the diner. 'My agent is going to love that. 'Oh, you're going to be in a love drama, Yamato-san? I hadn't heard about that. I thought you _refused_ to be in dramas! I thought you said you were only about your _music_!' he'll say. He's going to kill me. He's going to threaten me, and then he's going to kill me... or worse, he'll make me really sign onto a drama. Oh, I'd rather die,' Yamato thought, picturing the humiliating roles they would put him in on those terrible made-for-TV movies. 'People need to get it through their heads that I'm a musician, not an actor, and-'

That's when he tripped over something and flew a few feet forward quite gracefully, until he fell flat on his face on the sidewalk. It hurt quite a lot, and his palms were all scraped from the pavement. He'd heard a rip, and he prayed it was the stupid trench coat, and not his designer jeans. He _liked_ these jeans, they fit right, and it was a pain to find jeans that fit right in his size. Was it his fault he was a fourth French, and therefore taller than your average Japanese man? These thoughts raced through his head, quickly followed by one that was much stronger. 'I have to find Takeru!'

Standing up far too quickly, his knee sent out a strong message. "You scraped me, you bastard, and now I'm bleeding." Yamato hissed through clenched teeth and he looked down at his - yes, ripped - jeans. There was indeed blood coming through the fabric, although not so much that he needed to worry about it. A nasty scrape, just like on his palms, that's all it was. He could handle worse.

Brushing what dirt and gravel off of his palms that he could, Yamato was just about to run (while gritting his teeth to keep from limping) in a new direction in the hopes of finding his brother when he heard a familiar voice.

"Nice trench coat, where'd you get yours?"

Yamato looked down and back at the thing he'd tripped over. The thing was also dressed in a trench coat, although his was black (a bad choice of color for such a hot, sunny day, Yamato thought) and a hat to match. The hat, however, did nothing to hide the bright reddish hair that stuck out from under the brim, or the goggles that were being worn on top of it. Yamato sighed heavily.

"Daisuke-kun."

"Yeah," Daisuke replied, getting up and brushing himself off as well. _His_ knees were just fine. "You tripped over me. I was spying."

"Well, I was _trying_ to spy-" Yamato began to retort, then his eyes widened. "So they went this way?"

Daisuke grinned at him, nodding. "Yeah, but I dunno where they are NOW." He pointed across the street, where an even larger crowd was entering the subway station. "I think we've lost them."

Yamato shut his eyes and breathed in and out very slowly. This was a disaster.

"Why were you following them?" Daisuke asked, giving Yamato a curious look.

"I don't know, why were you!" Yamato snapped back, opening his eyes and glaring at the younger boy.

Daisuke's eyes widened and he shrugged. "They're my friends! I set them up, I wanted to see how it went!"

"You set them up?" Yamato raised an eyebrow. "So what is your relationship to Takeru? You're not dating?"

Pouting, Daisuke ducked his head. "I already said... we're just friends. But he seemed lonely and sad, so I set him up with Ken. Ken's been single forever, so..."

"Well, that was stupid!" Yamato snapped at him, feeling irrationally angry.

Daisuke gaped at him, then snapped back. "YOU'RE stupid! Why're you yelling at me, anyway! Get tired of fighting with Taichi-senpai!"

Yamato froze, then softened. The anger and stress drained from his body, leaving only exhaustion in his place. He looked towards the subway entrance, then grinned softly and sighed, tugging off his coat. "I am tired of fighting, Daisuke-kun. Would you like an ice cream? I could use something to cool off."

Daisuke relaxed instantly and smiled, also removing his coat. "Your treat?"

Yamato nodded. "My treat."

They'd ordered their ice creams (Daisuke with his large ice cream sundae with the works, Yamato with his small cup of strawberry) and they'd sat down at one of the small decorative iron-work tables in the ice cream shop.

Yamato pulled his chair into the table and took one spoonful of the ice cream before letting out a relieved sigh. It was _cold_ and full of wonderful, wonderful sugar that would make everything seem a little better.

Daisuke had already eaten three large bites of his sundae before he began talking. Hot fudge was on the corner of his mouth and the tip of his nose. "Your knee is bleeding."

"Mm," Yamato replied, unwilling to get up to do anything about it.

Daisuke gave his knee one last nervous glance, and seemed to decide it wasn't important enough to bother Yamato again for the moment. He chewed on his spoon nervously.

Yamato felt bad for him, he seemed scared to speak after being yelled at, and Yamato couldn't blame him. He decided he could at least interrogate Daisuke and find out why his little brother had been sad in the first place. "You set up Takeru and Ken."

Daisuke nodded, grinning, seeming grateful for a topic of conversation to latch on to. "He was real depressed after you came over and freaked out!"

Yamato winced, taking another spoonful of ice cream.

"I think he got dumped by somebody, or rejected. Anyway, whoever the guy was, seems like he didn't like the idea of bein' gay or something." Daisuke ate another spoonful of his sundae before continuing. "Takeru was really upset about it, so it must have been really recently, but he wouldn't tell me any details or anything, and I didn't wanna ask after he cried for so long."

"...He cried?" Yamato asked softly, feeling a large pang of guilt and worry in his chest.

"Yeah, for hours!" Daisuke's forehead wrinkled. "Or it felt like that long, anyway. So I told him he should get over this guy and find somebody new who DID like other guys! So I set him up with Ken!" Daisuke nodded happily and returned to his ice cream.

"Ken is gay, then," Yamato mused, frowning.

"Well, he's never TOLD me, but it's pretty obvious, right?" Daisuke replied, his mouth half-full. "I was gonna follow them from the beginning, but I slept in, 'cause I haven't been sleeping so good..." He glanced away, blushing slightly. "Not that I'm scared of the ghost or anything. It's just... a new place is hard to get used to."

Yamato blinked in surprise at him. So, the ghost thing was real? It hadn't been some ridiculous lie?

"Anyway, I slept in, so I missed them, and I'd just found them when you tripped over me!"

"Why were you on the ground?" Yamato asked, feeling a little irritated still.

"My shoe was untied. They come untied a lot," Daisuke mumbled, glaring down at them as if they did it on purpose. "I need some Velcro ones again, I can never get these to work..."

Yamato grinned just a bit, then began to chuckle.

"What!" Daisuke turned back to face him, looking offended.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Yamato said, smiling at him. "I just... I suppose I'm laughing at myself."

Daisuke blinked at him cluelessly. "I guess that's... healthy or something."

"I thought that you were honestly trying to steal Taichi away from me." Yamato's smile widened and he chuckled again. "I forgot that you don't do things like that. You say what you're thinking."

Daisuke's entire face was covered in a blush and he scowled down at the table. "Well... not on purpose."

"It's a good trait, Daisuke-kun, I wish I could be more like that."

Daisuke shook his head quickly, looking horribly embarrassed. "No, 'cause it's not like I'm being honest! I just say stuff and usually only at the worst times!" Then looked back down at his shoe and pursed his lips for a long moment before continuing. "'Sides, I wouldn't try to... do anything that would hurt Taichi-senpai. He really... loves you."

Yamato stopped grinning and gave Daisuke a curious look. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, 'cause you guys have been together so long, and he's so upset about the fights and all!" Daisuke said, looking confused. "Right?"

"Mm," Yamato replied, feeling a small smile grace his lips again. "That's good to hear, even if it isn't true."

"It is true!" Daisuke said in earnest.

"And it means a lot, coming from someone who really does love Taichi," Yamato said carefully, testing the younger boy with a playful grin. Daisuke had always been fun to tease, and no matter what the truth was, Yamato didn't care. The important thing was that he was feeling much better, and he was curious about how Daisuke would react.

Daisuke fidgeted with his spoon for a moment, blushing brightly, then gobbled down the rest of his ice cream before standing abruptly, pushing his metal chair back loudly and making it scrape along the floor. "Your leg is still bleeding."

Yamato had a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, and he shrugged, trying to indicate that he was fine, but it was too late. Daisuke had already run to the bathroom.

That's when he noticed an all-too-familiar bush of brown hair peeking over the windowsill. Yamato's eyes widened and a wave of irritation washed over him before he suddenly had to choke back a laugh. Now _he_ was being spied on. This was rediculous. Why hadn't he just come in if he'd seen him?

Daisuke returned with a wet paper towel, and he kneeled in front of Yamato, rolling up the leg of his jeans. "You gotta clean it, or it'll get infected, and then it's really really gross and hurts a bunch."

Yamato blinked down at Daisuke in surprise, forgetting for a moment that Taichi was sitting just outside the building, kneeling in the flower bed, listening in on them. "I'm fine, Daisuke-kun, really."

Shaking his head, Daisuke carefully patted off the scrape, wiping the blood away that had dripped down his shin. "Taichi-senpai taught me, never ignore even little stuff like this, or it gets bad, and then it's not little anymore."

Yamato shifted, slightly uncomfortable with the intimacy of the situation. "Thank you, but I really am fine, now. That's good enough."

Daisuke pouted in determination, grabbing the back of Yamato's leg with his left hand to hold the leg still.

"Daisuke-kun, not th-" Yamato choked a bit, jerking his leg. "Not THERE, Daisuke!" Yamato's leg jerked involuntarily, kicking Daisuke in the gut and shoving the boy onto his back.

"OW!" Daisuke yelped, his head hitting the floor.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Daisuke-kun, I-" Yamato stopped speaking as a dark cloud crossed over them. He looked up only to find Taichi standing there, arms folded, looking irritated. "Not... WHERE?"

Yamato's eyebrows arched, and he stared at Taichi, wondering what he should say.

Daisuke opened his mouth first. "I wasn't doing anything, Taichi-senpai!" Daisuke said unhappily, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "I was just... I mean, it was just his leg!" Daisuke blinked and gave Yamato a horrified look. "I mean, that's not a... a... a WEIRD place to touch on you, is it!"

Yamato couldn't help it when he burst into laughter. He was sure everyone in the ice cream parlor was already staring at them, and this was only going to hold their attention, but he didn't care.

Taichi relaxed at Yamato's laughter, and gave Daisuke a hand up, pulling him to his feet. "He going crazy or what?"

Daisuke frowned consideringly, then nodded. "I think so."

"I'm sorry," Yamato said, finally catching his breath and calming down. It really wasn't like him to have emotional outbursts like that, but maybe it was to balance out all the angry ones he'd been having. He grinned at Taichi, as if they were friends again. "I hurt my knee when I was stalking my little brother. I tripped over Daisuke-kun, because he was stalking them, too."

Daisuke nodded, setting the bloodied paper towel on the table. "I was just trying to help!" He looked upset. "I didn't know his leg was... off-limits or whatever!"

Taichi grinned back warily, as if he wasn't sure if this was all some sort of trick. "He's ticklish. But only behind his knee."

Relieved, Daisuke grinned. "Oh! I thought I'd done something really gross!"

Yamato frowned at him, not liking the implication that HE was 'really gross.'

"He's ticklish other places, too," Takeru's voice came from the door of the ice cream parlor.

Yamato froze, feeling his heart race. He'd been caught. How much had the boy heard?

When he got the guts to turn and meet Takeru's gaze, Daisuke had already gone over to talk to him. Ken was standing in the doorway as well, looking something between amused and worried.

"Where else?" Daisuke asked. "Where else is he ticklish?"

Takeru wasn't grinning. "Nowhere you should think about, Daisuke-kun."

Daisuke wrinkled his nose. "Oh. Some gross place." He nodded. "Um... you didn't just hear all that stuff about stalking you, did you?"

Takeru nodded stiffly.

"Oh. Well... I didn't really succeed!" Daisuke grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "I was just... worried and stuff, so..."

Takeru blinked at him and forced a small grin. "It's fine, Daisuke-kun, I'm not angry at you."

Ken nodded. "I'm not, either." He glanced at Taichi questioningly.

Putting his hands out in front of his chest defensively, Taichi shook his head. "Hey, you heard it all, I just happened to run into them. I didn't even know you guys were on a date or nothin'."

Takeru's lips were a thin line as his gaze rested on Yamato. "How did you know?" he asked in a tense voice.

Yamato swallowed hard, standing up from his chair and feeling completely stupid, with his hat on and his sunglasses and his pants leg rolled up with blood on it. He was definitely not looking his best. He could take off the glasses, but they felt safe, so he left them on. "Hikari-chan told me."

Taichi frowned at Yamato. "Hikari called?"

Yamato winced slightly. "I forgot to tell you. I'm sorry."

Taichi looked as if he was going to get angry, but the apology took him back from it. "Oh."

Ken arched an eyebrow. "Why did Hikari-chan know?"

Daisuke smiled. "I told her! She was worried about Takeru and all, so I told her."

Takeru sighed heavily. "Why did she tell o-...oniichan?"

Yamato forced a stiff grin to his face. He felt heavy. "She wanted Taichi to know that she wasn't dating you, in case he heard about it, and thought you were cheating on her."

Taichi made a face. "Good job passing on the info, Yamato."

Shutting his eyes, Yamato shrugged. Of course, he'd known Takeru wasn't dating Hikari all along, Taichi was the only one falling for that. But he decided now wasn't the time to tell him that.

"And hey, since when aren't you dating my sister!" Taichi turned on Takeru, glaring at him. "Did you dump her!"

"'Course he's not, he's gay!" Daisuke said helpfully.

"Then why has Hikari been telling everyone she's out on dates with _you_?" Taichi asked again, frowning suspiciously at Takeru.

Takeru rolled his eyes in irritation. "Ask her."

Ken raised his hand and cleared his throat. "I have something... important to tell everyone."

Everyone turned and stared at him, which made him shrink down just a bit. Yamato could relate to the feeling of hating being stared at like that.

"It's just... well, I'm not sure how to tell you all this, but... I-I'm not gay," Ken said, looking a bit sheepish.

Daisuke gaped at him. "Wha... you're not!"

"No, I-"

"You should have TOLD me!" Daisuke flailed, upset. "I'm your best friend, we're supposed to tell each other stuff!"

"I'm sorry, Daisuke," Ken said, looking amused. "It never occurred to me."

Daisuke looked at Takeru in a guilty way, shrugging. "Sorry. Want me to set you up with-"

"No, Daisuke-kun, I'm fine. Honestly. I'll be... fine."

Yamato felt his throat closing up and his back getting sore just from the tense feeling in the room. "I should go," he said, walking towards the door, and towards Takeru.

As he passed the younger boy, Takeru reached out and grabbed his wrist, and gave him an expression that Yamato could only read as pleading. He paused, staring back at him through his sunglasses, and then pulled away and walked through the door, intending to go home alone, and possibly have a glass of scotch and go to bed.

A few seconds after he'd left, Taichi caught up with him.

"Pretty pathetic sight, wasn't it?" Taichi asked, walking alongside him with his arms crossed behind his head.

Yamato nodded hesitantly. "Not that we have the right to say that."

"...That stuff you said to Daisuke, about him..." Taichi said hesitantly, searching for the right words.

"About him being in love with you?" Yamato asked, feeling even more ill.

"Y-yeah," Taichi replied, looking away from Yamato. "Why'd you say that?"

"Because he does," Yamato replied stiffly. He'd hoped this would be a chance to apologize, or to talk like friends. He'd hoped that Taichi following him meant something, something for _them_. Instead, it meant Taichi wanted to know about Daisuke. Yamato pursed his lips, feeling guilty for thinking that. He turned to say something to Taichi, something that would breach the distance between them.

But he stopped when he saw the soft grin on Taichi's face that he hadn't seen in over a year.

Taichi shook his head, still grinning. "Nah."

Suddenly, Yamato wondered if it was time to make up with Takeru.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Hey everyone! Thanks for waiting so patiently between chapters! I'm going to try to put out one a month at least until its complete... though I'm not sure how long it'll end up. XD;; We'll see how it goes! Anyway, as ALWAYS, your comments really are wonderful and drive me on. Constructive criticism is always welcome, and so are guesses as to what you think is going on/going to happen! I hope everyone enjoys!

**Chapter 6**

His chair squeaked loudly when he sat in it. That's when he knew that this was going to be a terrible day to be at work. Taichi stared blankly at his computer screen, tapping his finger lightly on the 'enter' key. He sighed heavily and slouched back in his chair, reaching up to loosen his tie. His chair squeaked again. He felt his eye twitch at the noise.

"Yagami-san," a woman's voice said from the open door.

Taichi looked over to see his secretary grinning at him. She was cute, with her long bleached hair, and low cut shirts, but Taichi felt little interest in her cleavage today. Squeaking chairs did little for his sex drive. "Your 2:00 meeting was cancelled, sir."

Taichi felt his lips pull down into a sharp frown. Meetings were dull and lifeless, but at least they got him out of the office and into a different room for a while. They also kept him from having to stare at the hated computer all day. Now there would be no break. Eight hours of data entry and math lay stretched before him, like the Sahara desert before a man with no water and only 5 SPF sunscreen.

"Great. Thanks," he mumbled, turning to gaze out of the window. At least he had a window, he thought. Of course, he'd worked his ass off to get to a level where he could have his own office and a window to look out of. Yamato thought it was because Taichi was driven and enjoyed his job, but really it was just because he couldn't stand being cooped up in a cubicle with only that sickly man-made light all day.

A bird flew by the window and Taichi moaned unhappily. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. Today would have been a perfect day to be outside on a grassy field, possibly with no shirt on. Taichi _liked_ having no shirt on. Unfortunately for him, he had to have a shirt _and _a jacket _and _a tie at his job.

Taichi hated his job.

Taking a deep breath and sitting up straight in his chair, Taichi turned to the computer, and grabbed the mouse firmly. "Okay, work time. If I work I'll be busy, and if I'm busy the day will go by faster."

Clicking on the icon for the file he needed to work on, Taichi finally felt focused, and like he could get through this. After all, if he only looked at it as one day at a time, he wouldn't get depressed about the meaningless pace his life had taken. He wouldn't think about the fact that he used to save the world, and now he added up numbers for a living. He'd just keep his head low, and do his job, and look forward to a good beer when he got home. He could do this.

He had almost convinced himself of that when the program froze. Error message after error message began popping up. Taichi froze in his seat, staring at it with large eyes, startled.

The stream of inappropriate language he screamed out next could be heard two floors below and above his office, where important people were wearing important suits and doing important things, and wondering very importantly who had been murdered on the sixth floor.

The cute secretary arrived just in time to find Taichi standing on his desk with his foot in the air, about to boot the moniter off of the desk and hopefully through the window. She yelped and ran over to grab his arm, quickly neutralizing the situation.

"Yagami-san! Yagami-san, you can't! That's company property!"

Feeling the fight drain out of him, Taichi sighed and lowered his foot. "You'd better call somebody to fix this damn thing. It's broken again." He hopped down off of his desk and sat back in his chair, causing it to squeak.

The secretary took a large step back when Taichi growled angrily and booted the chair across the room, sending it crashing into the wall. He turned to her and gave her a wry grin. "And get me a new chair, that one appears to be broken."

"Of course, sir," she said, turning to leave the room quickly.

Taichi ran a hand through his hair and sighed, leaning against the window and staring outside at the freedom that was so close, yet so far away. "I should have been born a long time ago. I would have made a way better samurai than accountant."

"You know that's not true, Taichi-senpai, samurai had to follow orders and stuff!" a familiar voice said from the doorway. "You'd be a much better Emperor."

Taichi turned and blinked at the source of the sound, then grinned widely. "Emperor, huh? I like the sound of that."

"Yagami-san, I'm sorry, I tried to stop him, but he just pushed past me, and-" his secretary said from behind Daisuke, still trying to tug him away from the door.

"Nah, don't worry about it, just get the computer guys up here and get me a chair that works." Waiting for the secretary to leave before he continued, Taichi finally relaxed and reached up, yanking off his tie completely, tossing it on the ground.

"Having a bad day?" Daisuke asked, entering the room.

"You could say that," Taichi replied, shrugging and finally really looking at the younger boy. He was wearing cargo shorts and an old worn out t-shirt, and carrying a large wicker basket. "What's up?"

"I thought I'd surprise you!" Daisuke said, smiling widely and setting the basket on the desk.

"Don't you have work?" Taichi asked, arching an eyebrow, then frowning. "How'd you even find me, anyway? I never told you where I work."

Daisuke shrugged innocently. "I have ways."

Smirking, Taichi straightened up and put his hands in his pockets. "So what's the surprise?"

"Mm, I didn't want to work today, so I took it off, and I thought you might wanna have lunch with me!" Daisuke suddenly looked a little nervous. "If that's okay..."

Biting his lower lip briefly, Taichi wondered what would happen if he just left. He'd never tried it before, even calling in sick was practically impossible at his job. Still, there was no time like the present. "How about we go have lunch, and don't come back?"

Daisuke's nervousness dropped away and was quickly replaced by a grin. "Sounds great!"

"No, I mean never. Let's never come back." Taichi crossed the room and put a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Let's just go."

Blinking rapidly Daisuke tensed up a bit. "Go... go where!"

Frowning for a long moment, Taichi finally yanked his hand away and pointed out the window. "That way!"

"What's that way?" Daisuke asked, looking nervous all over again.

"I don't know, that's the best part! Let's just go. Let's just go and start walking and see where we end up. Doesn't that sound awesome?" Taichi wasn't looking at Daisuke any longer, but out the window with a longing expression.

It was a moment before Daisuke had the nerve to break the spell cast over the room. "I think... you'd probably just reach the ocean eventually, Taichi-senpai... since Japan is an island and all."

"We could take a boat," Taichi replied weakly before slouching a bit and sighing. "Sorry. Sometimes I just... feel like that."

"Well... we can't just leave, but... we can play hooky and forget all about work for a whole day," Daisuke said, grinning hopefully.

Taichi chuckled and reached up, running a hand through his hair and nodding. "You're a savior, Daisuke, thanks." Grabbing the basket and leaving his tie on the floor, Taichi started towards the door. "C'mon, we better get going before the boss catches me."

Daisuke gave Taichi a worried look and followed him out of the office quickly. "Shouldn't you tell him you're leaving? Won't you get in trouble?"

"Yeah, probably," Taichi said, walking by his secretary's desk and past the cube farm towards the stairs.

"Ah, Yagami-san," the secretary called after him, standing up quickly. "The repairmen are on their way, they said they'd be here in ten minutes."

Glancing back towards her, Taichi nodded. "Tell 'em they've got all day, I won't be back till Monday."

A man stuck his head out from behind the wall of his cubicle. "What's this? Yagami's taking the day off?"

"Taichi-senpai... Taichi-senpai, if you're going to get in trouble, maybe we shouldn't-" Daisuke began anxiously.

"That's right, I've got an important date," Taichi replied to the man, ignoring Daisuke's fretting, and instead wrapping his free arm around Daisuke's shoulders.

Daisuke squeaked.

"Oh, a new boy-toy? Won't the wife be upset?" the man asked, smiling at Daisuke.

"Nahhhh, he doesn't have to know. C'mon, Dai." Taichi led Daisuke towards the stairs, not commenting on how stiff and tense the boy's body had gotten, or how red his face had turned.

The man's laughter could be heard as they entered the stairwell and shut the door behind them. Taichi dropped his arm from Daisuke's shoulders and began taking the steps down two at a time. "C'mon, I'm starved, let's get out of here."

"O-okay," Daisuke mumbled, following Taichi quickly, trying to keep up.

"Sorry about that, by the way," Taichi said, glancing up at Daisuke and grinning. "That guy always gives me crap."

Daisuke smiled quickly and shook his head, pursing his lips before speaking. "Um, if you're hungry... the basket... I brought food, so..."

Taichi glanced back down at the basket in his hand and stopped at the bottom floor, pushing the door open to let them out of the building. "You cooked?"

"Well, it's nothing fancy or anything," Daisuke mumbled, stepping through the door as Taichi held it open.

Grinning widely at the basket, then at Daisuke, Taichi stepped out behind him into the bright sunlit day, and sighed happily. "Okay, yeah, where should we go to eat...?"

"There's a park!" Daisuke said quickly, pointing up the street. "It's not far. We should eat there!"

"I thought you worked across town, how do you know what's around here?" Taichi asked, arching an eyebrow and starting to walk up the street.

"I told you, I have ways," Daisuke said, sticking his tongue out at Taichi.

Feeling his face beginning to hurt from grinning Taichi nodded. "Oh, I see, I've got a stalker don't I?"

Daisuke blushed and wrinkled his nose, ducking his head. "I just..."

Taichi laughed and ruffled Daisuke's hair with his free hand. "Ah, it's okay, I've known you were a stalker for a long time. You _and_ Jun, come to think of it... must run in the family."

"Hey, I'm nothing like her!" Daisuke argued, breathing just a bit heavily from trying to keep up with Taichi's pace.

Nodding, Taichi shoved the basket into Daisuke's arms. "Sure, sure. Hold this." Once Daisuke had the basket, Taichi undid his suit jacket and yanked it off, then rolled up the sleeves of his button-up shirt and undid the top five buttons. Finally he sighed happily and grabbed the basket back. "Much better."

"I don't have to wear suits to my job!" Daisuke said happily, grinning smugly at Taichi.

Making a face at him, Taichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and you can only afford a haunted apartment.

Daisuke pouted in response. "At least I'm happ-" he began, and was cut off when Taichi grabbed him around the waist and yanked him close. They'd stopped moving. Daisuke was tense all over again, and bright red.

Taichi stared down at the back of Daisuke's neck, the younger boy's back pressed against Taichi's body. Daisuke smelled nice, like fresh cooked rice, like he'd been up since early that morning cooking just to bring Taichi lunch.

"Taichi... senpai?" Daisuke breathed the words. "Wha..."

Quickly releasing Daisuke, Taichi forced a grin and shoved his free hand in his pocket, rubbing the tips of his fingers together, still feeling the warmth of Daisuke's body on them. "Ah, the light is red." He nodded towards the pedestrian crossing sign. "You were about to jump out in traffic. Watch where you're going."

Laughing nervously, Daisuke scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, Taichi-senpai is just distracting, I don't normally do that kinda stuff! ...Well, sometimes I do, but not that often."

Taichi stared ahead at the light, not saying a word until it finally turned green again. Daisuke had been _warm_. The minute they stood there seemed to stretch into hours, and every passing second was a temptation to turn and ask him if what Yamato had said was true.

_"...That stuff you said to Daisuke, about him..."_

_"About him being in love with you?"_

_"Why'd you say that?"_

_"Because he does."_

The words ran over and over in Taichi's mind, just as they had been since last weekend when Yamato had spoken them.

The light turned green, and Taichi took the step off of the curb to cross the street, and the urge was quickly gone. He blinked hard and turned to smile at Daisuke, who looked nervous at Taichi's sudden silence.

"C'mon, let's find a good spot for a picnic," Taichi said, stepping up onto the other curb and walking into the park.

Daisuke was smiling again, and the awkwardness and strange urges were forgotten, at least for the moment, at the crosswalk.

They'd settled into a shady spot of grass and spread out the blanket that Daisuke had tucked into the large picnic basket. Then box after box of food was unveiled, all freshly made just for the supposedly impromptu picnic. Taichi gorged himself on squid shaped sausages and rice balls, sushi and dried octopus, until he was so stuffed that he thought he'd never be able to move again.

Collapsing back onto the ground, Taichi sighed happily. "You're a great cook."

"It wasn't anything special," Daisuke replied flopping down next to him. "Anyone can-"

"No, really. You're a great cook." Taichi rolled over and peered at him. "How come you didn't do that?"

Daisuke rolled over too, staring back and looking confused. "Do what?"

"Become a chef," Taichi replied.

The blush on Daisuke's face was sudden and overwhelming, it almost made Taichi squint. "I'm not good enough!"

Taichi's eyes narrowed. "No, you really are. I remember those noodles you made that time we had that party... didn't I tell you back then you should become a chef?"

Daisuke's lips were pursed and his eyes were lowered. He was pulling small stems of grass up from the ground. "I... I thought about it, but..."

"I know you like drawing and all, but..." Taichi began.

"I didn't get accepted," Daisuke stated quickly, looking back up. "I wasn't good enough. I tried to get into the school here in Tokyo... they rejected me. The art school... I was accepted there."

Taichi winced, glancing away and feeling very awkward. "Sorry. I mean... shit, what do they know anyway? I eat more food than them, I'm sure, and I can tell what's good and what isn't."

Daisuke's blush faded and he smiled gently. "Mm, I'm glad Taichi-senpai likes it. I like getting to cook, but it's a pain when it's just for yourself."

Taichi grinned back and winked. "Well, you can cook for me _anytime_."

The blush was back. "Y-Yamato-san cooks much better than I do, I'm sure."

Arching his eyebrows at Daisuke, Taichi shook his head. "I like your cooking best."

Daisuke was biting his lower lip again. Taichi was beginning to think that that was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen.

"Hey, don'tcha wish we had a soccer ball?" Daisuke asked suddenly, perking back up.

"Mm?" Taichi smiled widely. "Hey, yeah. I haven't played in... oh, it's been... at least a year."

Daisuke sat up abruptly and gave Taichi an intense look. "I bet you miss it, huh."

Taichi blinked, shrugging. "'Course I do."

"I bet you wish you were doing that instead of working in a stupid office!" Daisuke continued.

Wincing, Taichi looked away. "Look, Daisuke, I already told you-"

"But you'd be happier!" Daisuke said, looking upset. "Taichi-senpai shouldn't be doing something that makes him miserable!"

"I'm not miserable," Taichi argued weakly, sighing.

"Yes you are! That's why I called... well, he'll be here soon, I think," Daisuke said, glancing around. "I told him to meet us..."

Sitting up quickly, Taichi frowned at Daisuke suspiciously. "Wait, who did you call?"

Giving Taichi a pleading look and clasping his hands together in front of him, Daisuke shook his head. "Don't be mad, Taichi-senpai, please! It can't hurt to try, right?"

"To try... _what_?" Taichi heard his own voice lower. He didn't like being tricked, he didn't like being set up and he suddenly wondered if this whole situation was just a ploy.

"To... hey, there he is!" Daisuke hopped up and waved his arms. "Iwase-san!"

Taichi sighed heavily and stood, not bothering to brush the grass from himself. Folding his arms, he jerked his head in a rude greeting at the middle-aged man that was approaching them. "So, what the hell is this all about?"

Daisuke winced, smiling nervously. "Iwase-san, this is Taichi-senpai, the one I told you about on the phone!"

"Ah, yes, Yagami Taichi-san, my name is Iwase. I remember hearing about you of course... your team won regionals and almost went onto nationals your final year of high school, didn't it?" The man smiled in a friendly way at Taichi.

"...Yeah. So?" Feeling trapped, Taichi tensed up more.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get a chance to tell him... well, he didn't know you were coming, so..." Daisuke trailed off, looking nervous and fretful, wringing his hands.

The man chuckled. "Ah, so this was a surprise? How nice. Yagami-san, you didn't go into teaching like you planned, why is that?"

Taichi frowned sharply at the man, and then at Daisuke. "What'd you do, give him my life story?"

Daisuke winced and shrunk in on himself a little before replying. "Only... only a little..."

"I didn't go into teaching because I needed a job that would actually pay money, and that degree would have taken a lot longer to get. It wasn't realistic." Taichi continued to frown at them.

"Well, what would you say if I told you that if you can pass the paper exam, and if we're still interested in you after an interview, you could come work at my school. I'm the vice principal, and it is just a modest little private school, but-"

Taichi's eyes widened. "Wait, what? You mean that snobby fancy school over that way?" Taichi pointed in a vaguely northern direction. "Why the hell would you wanna hire somebody with no teaching credentials!"

Iwase's expression hardened slightly, and he ducked his head. "Actually, it's because...we need a coach... immediately."

Suspicious, Taichi shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded. "Yeah? Why's that?"

Daisuke stood by, chewing on his lower lip, and bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously. Taichi glanced at him now and then, wondering exactly how he'd kill him for this.

"Our team is terrible." The man sighed. "We have a junior high and high school on the same campus, and in every other way we excel! But... we've never been able to get a good soccer coach." The man pulled off his glasses and cleaned them anxiously with his tie. "Because of this, students that are interested in soccer don't come to our school, and the ones that do aren't very good..."

Taichi made a face. "So who cares? You're a rich private school, it shouldn't matter."

Putting his glasses back on, Iwase nodded firmly. "The local public school is very good... the rivalry has become fierce. The faculty and the students are both becoming rather hostile towards each other, and now we've begun losing students to them. Parents have become concerned that since our team is doing so terribly, that we might not be up to par as far as education goes either! We can't afford to lose face any longer. So the principal has decided that if a normal coach isn't interested in the position, we'd open it up to someone who was simply lacking the... traditional training."

Smirking, Taichi folded his arms. "So you want somebody like me with no teaching credentials to come in and save the day? What if you hire me and they just suck so bad I can't even get them to win a game? You gonna fire me then? What am I supposed to do, go and ask for my old job back again?"

The man shook his head quickly. "No, of course not! If we feel you're up for it... we'll put our faith in you, and you'll sign a contract... you'll be guaranteed a job for a full year."

Taichi said nothing and arched an eyebrow at the man, wondering what the catch was.

"You'd have to be in charge of the gym classes as well of course, but that means that even if you aren't able to improve our team, we'd keep you on in that position." The man gave Taichi a pleading look. "We've put inquiries in at all of the usual places to find teachers, and even advertised in newspapers, but we've only had a few responses and none of them were any good. We did some research on you and it seems you were quite good... We need a person to fill the position by the end of the month, when the new term starts. Our last coach left at the end of the last term, and if we don't have one by the beginning of fall semester... please... won't you at least take the test?"

Pursing his lips, Taichi's mind raced. Between the thoughts of 'Daisuke should mind his own damn business' and 'this guy has gotta be crazy, thinking I'd quit a stable job for that, I'm sure it doesn't pay as much', there was an undeniable urge to accept.

"If... if you're not up to the challenge, I suppose," the man said, sighing and turning away.

"So they're pretty much hopeless, right? The kids on the team all suck? And you figure that even if someone that's great at soccer like me comes in they'll probably still suck? It's a huge risk."

The man nodded sadly. "I suppose that is the situation. Thank you for your time."

"Gimmie the test."

The look on Yamato's face was priceless when Taichi walked in the door sweaty and shirtless, with mud on his slacks and Daisuke in tow. Taichi beamed at him and put his hands on his hips, feeling smug.

"What..." Yamato finally was able to say, "happened?"

"I got an offer for a new job! It's so much better than the one I have now... if I get it... man..." Taichi knew he was being incoherent, but he couldn't help it. He was feeling _good._

"Oniichan, the tea is ready," Takeru said, entering the living room from the kitchen. He smiled at Taichi and Daisuke. "Oh, hi."

Taichi's grin faltered a bit as he glanced at the younger blond. "Ah, you finally made up, huh?"

Yamato nodded quickly, brought out of his daze. "Yes, I... I called Takeru and asked him to come over. We talked."

Takeru smiled and nodded, settling on the couch next to Yamato and handing him a teacup. "So what's going on?"

"Taichi-senpai applied for his new job! I think he's gonna get it, too!" Daisuke exclaimed, beaming at the older boy. Daisuke was just as disheveled as Taichi, with a few blades of grass sticking out of his hair.

"Yeah, I'll know tomorrow, and I totally aced it! If I passed the paper test, all I gotta do is interview with the big boss and I've got it!" Taichi said, bursting with pride.

For a moment Yamato looked unsure, then he smiled a genuine smile and nodded. "That's great, Taichi." He paused for a moment before smirking and arching an eyebrow. "Dare I ask why mud wrestling was part of the application process?"

"Ah, yeah," Taichi said, looking down at himself and laughing. "Daisuke and me decided to play some soccer to celebrate." Taichi flopped down into the large brown leather chair in the living room, and felt his smile widen when Yamato didn't even frown at him for getting mud on it. "It's great you guys are talking again," he said.

"Well... you know..." Yamato mumbled, looking down at his tea cup.

"Oniichan was being stubborn," Takeru said, sticking the tip of his tongue out at the older boy.

"What were you fighting about anyway?" Daisuke asked, sitting on the arm of the chair Taichi was sitting on.

Taichi noted that it was a sign of Yamato's good mood that he didn't say anything about Daisuke breaking the chair, or ask him to move.

"Oh, when oniichan and Taichi-san started to date, I decided I wanted to start dating, too. Unfortunately, oniichan didn't approve of my taste in men," Takeru said, grinning playfully at his brother. "He kept calling me up and yelling at me. It was really _rude. _Made me think oniichan thought I was a kid!"

"You _were_ a kid," Yamato grumbled.

"Ah, oniichan," Takeru said, his grin softening. "I thought we made up! Besides, everyone knows you're just overprotective."

Yamato started to say something when Taichi rolled his eyes and interrupted. "Yeah, yeah, enough about YOU, let's talk about ME and my greatness! I just totally beat Daisuke in a one-on-one game and I haven't even played in ages!"

Daisuke pouted, but he couldn't hold it long, he was soon smiling. "Well, Taichi-senpai was always the best."

Folding his arms and shutting one eye, peering up at Daisuke with the other, Taichi smirked. "Damn right."

"Ooookay, okay, that's enough. Out, both of you," Yamato said, standing. "It may be a Friday, but _I_ have band practice in the morning, so I need my sleep. Besides, I don't want to hear a play-by-play about a soccer game right now."

"Okay, oniichan," Takeru said, grinning at him and hopping up. "I'll call you later, okay?"

Yamato smiled at him and nodded. "Sure."

"Do we _have _to go?" Daisuke whined. "It's not so late!"

Taichi arched an eyebrow at Yamato, then smirked and nodded at Daisuke. "Ah, it's late enough, time for children to go home and go to bed."

Flushing at the comment, Daisuke made a face at him. "Fine," he mumbled.

Taichi laughed and ruffled his hair, then stood and shooed the two boys to the door. "Go on, go on. I'll give you a call tomorrow and let you know how the final interview goes, Dai."

"Okay, Taichi-senpai," Daisuke said, smiling back again. "Goodnight!"

"Bye Oniichan!" Takeru called.

Shutting the door, Taichi slowly turned and cocked his head at Yamato. "You _never _go to bed before midnight."

"I never go to _sleep_ before midnight," Yamato replied, crossing the room slowly.

"Are you implying that you plan on going to _bed_, then?" Taichi asked, taking a few steps until he was face to face with Yamato, only momentarily annoyed that the other boy was still ever-so-slightly taller than him.

"Mm, if you'd care to join me," Yamato said in a low purring voice, giving Taichi what was undeniably a seductive look.

Feeling the corners of his lips tug up into a wide evil grin, Taichi nodded. "Oh, I think I can do that."

When they kissed, Taichi realized in the back of his mind that Yamato hadn't yelled at him for losing his shirt, tie, and jacket, or even asked how he'd managed to lose them playing soccer. Yamato hadn't yelled at him for coming home all muddy. Yamato wasn't angry at all. Yamato was, however, kissing back.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Thanks for waiting, everyone! Sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up. Hopefully it was worth the wait! I'm going to do my best to do a chapter a month from now on, so hang in there! And please continue to review, feedback really helps a lot!!!

**Chapter 7**

Takeru owed him, Daisuke thought as he walked down the street towards the club, hands in his pocket and lips forming a pout. Just because he'd set up Ken and Takeru on a date that hadn't _quite_ worked out didn't mean that he should have to do _this_. Okay, sure, Ken turned out to be straight... but it's not like he'd ever _told_ Daisuke he was straight, and he _certainly _didn't _look_ it.

Daisuke sighed and watched the light at the crosswalk, waiting for it to turn green. He'd decided to be much more careful about crosswalks after Taichi had had to yank him out of traffic yesterday. That was _way_ too embarrassing.

Across the street Daisuke could see the club, signs lit up and people lined up to get inside. He whined loudly to himself, wondering if he turned around and went home what Takeru would do to him. Didn't Takeru hate coming to this club anyway?! Why was he so insistent that Daisuke meet him here?

His pout turned into a sharp frown and Daisuke glared at the club, imagining Takeru's face floating there, mocking him. It was just to make fun of him, wasn't it?! Takeru knew Daisuke hadn't liked being there in the first place, so Takeru was just trying to make him suffer!

The light turned green, and Daisuke stood there, not quite able to force himself to move. Why should he go?! Takeru was clearly doing this just to be a jerk, so he should just turn around and go home!

Then he remembered the noises he'd heard in his kitchen the night before, and he decided that maybe going to the club wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe he could get Takeru to sleep over, even! The ghost would probably leave him alone if he had guests, and even if it didn't, it might eat Takeru first and give him enough time to get away!

Thinking cheerful thoughts like that, Daisuke quickly ran across the street before the light turned red again, and got into the line to pay the entry fee to the club. Nothing in there could be as bad as a ghost, right?

Daisuke quickly retracted that thought when he entered the club. There was the same sickening smell of sweat surrounded him, the same noise, the same over-powering bass thumping the beat to whatever indistinguishable techno song they were playing, and the same huge crowd of people. Except that the crowd of people _wasn't_ the same. Before the crowd had been almost entirely men, but tonight... tonight, he could see mini-skirts and corsets and high-heeled boots going on forever in the sea of bodies.

'Lesbian night?!' Daisuke thought, gaping at the crowd and slowly making his way into it, wondering where he might find his so-called friend. 'Why would he want to come on lesbian night? Maybe it's for Hikari-chan and Sora-san, but...'

Something wasn't quite right. Daisuke blinked hard, and his eyes finally began to adjust to the strange pulsating lights, leaving him with a horrifying realization.

Those _weren't_ women.

'Cross-dressers!!! Cross-dressers everywhere!' Daisuke felt his heart racing as he realized all of those scantily-clad women were _men_. Some of them were passable, but most of them had bad makeup and hairy legs and bad fake breasts in their corsets and it was _terrifying. _'Have to get out! Have to escape! It was a trap, he sent me here on purpose 'cause he knew this would be going on!'

But suddenly Daisuke realized he couldn't see the entrance from where he was. He'd gone too deeply into the crowd. Feeling like he was going to have a heart attack from the fear, Daisuke found himself trapped in the huge crowd of men in drag, and he yelped, shoving through the bodies as quickly as he could, and running for the nearest wall, trying to ignore the feel of the hands that occasionally touched him, or the smell of perfume emanating from bodies that were not _meant_ to wear perfume.

Finally, he could see the edge of the crowd, and he shoved past one last person to escape, thinking that at last he was home-free. What he didn't count on was the person he was shoving past having platform boots that were so high that Daisuke tripped over them, and sent him tumbling onto the floor on his face.

Moaning, Daisuke lay there, face down on the floor for a long moment, feeling dizzy and depressed. 'At least I got out of the crowd,' he thought unhappily. 'Maybe if I just lay here no one will notice me and I can leave after everyone else has.'

"I wouldn't lay there like that, the floor is probably filthy," a familiar voice said.

Daisuke blinked and realized that the voice was right, and he jumped up, making a face and brushing himself off.

"You're not really dressed, are you?" the voice asked.

Daisuke looked up to meet Sora's gaze and he frowned at her in a conspiratorial way. "Sora-san... I think tonight everyone's cross-dressing."

She laughed and stepped back, holding her hands out a bit to indicate what she was wearing. "Yes, Daisuke, I noticed."

Daisuke blinked at her outfit and then wrinkled his nose. She was wearing black boots, pin-striped pants, a ruffly white shirt that looked like it was out of some old English period drama, a pin-striped jacket with coattails, and a top hat.

"You're dressed weird, too," he moaned unhappily.

Sora frowned at him. "I thought it was sort of cute." She blinked and then waved at someone behind Daisuke. He turned and found himself face-to-face with Hikari and Takeru.

One of them was wearing short-shorts, a white collared short-sleeved shirt, knee-length white socks, suspenders, and penny-loafers. It looked like the sort of thing Daisuke's mother had made him wear when he was in first grade.

The other one was wearing white thigh-high pink nylons with little bows at the top, six-inch heels, a tank top that showed off their stomach and had small bows on the shoulders, ribbons in their hair to make pigtails, more sparkly pink glittery makeup than Daisuke thought existed, and a very tight white skirt made of what appeared to be plastic.

The reason that Daisuke yelped and tried to make a run for it again was not because _what_ they were wearing, but _who _was wearing _what_. Unfortunately for him, Takeru's reflexes were fast, and he was prepared for that reaction.

"Where do you think you're going?" Takeru asked, grabbing Daisuke by the arm.

"Away from you!" Daisuke tried yanking his arm away, but there was really nowhere to run _to._ He was trapped. Sighing heavily, he turned and gave them all a sour look. "You're _all_ dressed weird," he said unhappily. He thought he probably shouldn't say anything about the fact that Takeru was weirdly hairless in all the places guys were supposed to have hair, like their legs and under their arms. Maybe he had some sort of weird skin problems so he couldn't grow hair there?

"You don't think I look pretty?" Takeru asked, and for a moment he almost sounded serious. That only made Daisuke more terrified.

"No! You're a boy! And... and you're... you're wearing weird things!" He turned to Hikari and whimpered. "Hikari-chan... you're dressed like a little kid!"

She blinked at him, cocking her head.

Sora put an arm around Hikari's shoulder and tipped her top hat at him. "She knows."

Making a face as if he'd just tasted something terrible, Daisuke spun on his heel and tried again to escape, this time by marching directly back into that terrifying crowd.

"Oh, well, if you want to go I guess that's fine. Have fun with the ghost!" Takeru called after him.

Daisuke spun on his heel and marched directly back to his friends, looking depressed. "I guess I can stay for a while."

"Good! We brought you an outfit," Takeru said, holding up a large shopping bag he'd been hiding behind his back.

Daisuke stared at it for a long moment, slowly realizing what was probably inside of it. "If I don't put it on by myself, you're probably gonna hold me down and do it, huh?" He gave Sora a sad look. "'Cause you'd help him, and that's not fair, 'cause there's two of you."

"I'd help too, Daisuke, so that makes three," Hikari said smiling.

Horrified, Daisuke gaped at her. "Hi-Hikari-chan... how could you?!"

"It doesn't matter, Daisuke-kun, just go to the bathrooms and let Takeru help you change! It's fun!" Sora said happily.

"How is it fun to look dumb in public?! I do that all the time already and I don't wear dresses!" Daisuke said, feeling a bit dizzy and wondering if the ghost is _really_ that bad.

"Oh, come on, Daisuke. Everyone here is dressed up, so it's not like you're the only one. Besides, it's cross-dressing night, they only have it twice a year, so we might as well do it and have fun, right? No one's gonna be paying attention to you anyway, there's too many weird looking people here for anyone to bother laughing at you." Takeru shoved the bag into Daisuke's arms. "Do you need help?"

Daisuke wrinkled his nose at Takeru, not liking that all of that actually made a little sense. "If I do this, I don't owe you anymore from the date thing."

Takeru nodded. "Right."

"And you're sleeping over at my house after, so the ghost eats you first," Daisuke continued.

Takeru pursed his lips, then sighed. "Fine, fine, whatever you want, just go change!"

Dragging his feet, Daisuke turned and walked towards the public restrooms, the bag in his arms, thinking that he'd had a lot of terrible nights before, but this was shaping up to be one of the worst.

Finding an empty stall in the bathroom was almost impossible. They all seemed to be full of men whose high heeled feet could be seen under the door, and couples doing... whatever it was they were doing so loudly. "See, I can't change, since there's nowhere I can change in!" Daisuke said happily, shoving the bag back towards Takeru and turning to leave the filthy stinky bathroom.

"If the stalls are all full, you can just change right here," Takeru replied, smiling widely.

Daisuke sighed and took the bag back. "Fine," he mumbled. "I'll take the next empty one."

Takeru patted him on the back and pointed towards a man that was dressed like a prostitute leaving a stall. "I'll wait here, yell if you need help."

"I can get dressed on my own," Daisuke replied indignantly and went into the stall, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it. Once inside, he sat the bag down on the floor and pulled out the item that was on top. 'Of course,' Daisuke thought. 'Panties. Pink lacy panties.' Making a face, he sighed heavily and pulled out the next item. 'Nylons, right?' Daisuke frowned at the stretchy pink things and sighed heavily, holding them in his left hand with the frightening underwear, and pulled out the biggest pile of lace and ribbon that he'd ever seen.

The dress wasn't just a dress, it was a lolita dress. Daisuke frowned at, forehead wrinkling. It was pink, with white lace around every hem and edge that lace could possibly be put on. To make matters worse, it appeared to have an apron. A heart shaped apron.

Daisuke grit his teeth and - thinking of the ghost - yanked off his shirt and pants and underwear and stepped out of his shoes, standing on the gross sticky floor in bare feet. He tossed his normal clothes into the bag and sighed heavily, slipping into the panties. They were itchy and tight and annoying, but he knew it was better to wear those than to try to wear the nylons without them - or worse, with his boxers. The panties seemed to be the least painful option.

Then came the problem of the nylons. Daisuke had never put on nylons before, and he was pretty sure they were easy to rip. Leaning against the wall of the small stall, he slowly and carefully rolled one leg up and slipped his foot into it, unrolling it as he pulled it up, trying to remember what it looked like on TV when women put these evil things on. Then he repeated it with his other leg. After all, if he had to cross-dress, the last thing he wanted to was to cross-dress _badly_. Therefore, rips in his stockings just wouldn't do.

Finally, Daisuke pulled the dress on over his head and slipped it on, reaching behind himself to do up the zipper, and to tie the sash for the apron. The skirt went down to his knees, he noticed, and was thankful at least that it covered his ass. He hadn't been sure if Takeru had gotten this from one of those weird fashion stores or some kind of porn store. He frowned, realizing there was no way he could zip the dress up himself, and realized he'd have to ask Takeru for help.

Feeling ill, Daisuke reached into the bag for the finishing touches, that he was sure Takeru only included to humiliate him. Inside the bag was a bonnet, with a big bow on top. That was it.

"I'm not wearing this!" Daisuke snapped, reaching down to rip off the dress and escape from this madness. Ghost or no ghost, this was just _stupid_.

"Aaah, I guess Hikari was right," Takeru said from the other side of the stall door.

Daisuke paused, scowling through the stall door at him. "Right about what?"

"Oh, just... she said you probably weren't _comfortable_ enough as a _man_ to cross-dress," Takeru said in a sugary-sweet tone of voice.

"I know you're just saying that to trick me into doing it," Daisuke mumbled. He dropped his arms to his sides and sighed. "...I'm not wearing the stupid hat."

"It's a bonnet, Daisuke," Takeru said.

"I'm not wearing the stupid HAT," Daisuke repeated.

"Fine, don't wear it, but it won't be as cute."

"I don't _want_ to be cute!" Daisuke shouted at him through the stall, momentarily silencing the rest of the noise from the bathroom. "Anyway it stinks in here and it's gross and I think the people in the stall next to mine are DOING stuff!"

"Then come out and we'll catch up with Sora-san and Hikari," Takeru said, pulling on the handle to the stall.

Bracing himself and unlocking the door so Takeru could pull it open, Daisuke put on his best scowl. "So? Satisfied now?"

Takeru's grin was wide and evil, and he shrugged. "You'd look better with the bonnet. Just take off those silly goggles, and-"

"No!" Daisuke retorted, scowling. "I wore them specially tonight!"

Arching an eyebrow, Takeru frowned slightly. "Why?"

Daisuke ducked his head and sighed. "They're supposed to bring good luck. And scare away the ghost and stuff."

"You didn't put on the shoes," Takeru said, ignoring that. "They're in the bottom of the bag. You can't dance barefoot."

Daisuke blinked at him, and then dug under the normal clothes he'd tossed into the bag to retrieve the shoes before gaping at them. "These aren't shoes! They're torture devices!"

"Well, I didn't get you heels because I thought you probably would have trouble walking in them," Takeru reasoned, shrugging. "Rocking horse shoes are much easier to walk in."

Scowling at his so-called-friend, Daisuke tossed the shoes onto the floor and slipped them on, wobbling for a moment before grabbing onto the wall for balance. "They're platforms!"

"At least they make you tall," Takeru replied, smirking.

"The toe is all curved... I could just roll forward onto my face!" Daisuke retorted.

"That's why they're called 'rocking horse shoes', Daisuke-kun," Takeru said in a condescending tone. "Now go on, spin around and I'll zip you up."

Daisuke turned reluctantly and scowled at the wall before him as Takeru zipped the dress up and tied his sash. "How do girls put these stupid things on by themselves?!"

"They usually have help, or they practice," Takeru said, pulling on Daisuke's arm to spin him back around. "Now hold still."

"_Now _what?" Daisuke asked, scowling at him.

Takeru didn't reply. Instead, he pulled a stick of lipstick out of the small purse he had looped over his arm, and grinned. "Makeup."

"Augh! No!" Daisuke stumbled backwards a bit, almost falling into the toilet. "No way!"

"It's not that big of a deal. You'll look a lot better with it," Takeru reasoned. "Now hold still, or I'm not going back with you and the ghost can _have_ you."

Glaring at Takeru, Daisuke stepped forward again carefully and let the boy apply light pink lipstick to his lips. "There, now I look stupid, happy?"

"You don't look stupid, you look adorable," Takeru said, smirking. He pulled out a tube and opened it, holding what looked like a small wand with a fuzzy brush at the end to Daisuke's right eye. "Blink slowly."

Daisuke blinked, wrinkling his nose. "What's this stuff?"

"Mascara. It'll make your eyes look bigger," Takeru replied, moving onto the other eye. "Blink."

Once the mascara was on, Takeru nodded. "You could really use some powder or eyeliner, but... I thought that might be all I could get you to agree to."

"Damn right that's all I'm gonna agree to!" Daisuke retorted, folding his arms in irritation. "My face feels all weird and stuff now!" He reached up to rub his eye. "And it itches!"

"Stop!" Takeru grabbed his wrist and glared at him. "If you touch your face now you'll smudge it and I'll have to do it over."

Moaning unhappily, Daisuke dropped his arm and gave Takeru his best look of misery. "I hate you forever."

"Yeah, yeah. Now come on, they're waiting for us." Takeru reached down and stuffed the last of Daisuke's clothing, along with the rejected bonnet and his sneakers, into the bag and snatched it away. "I'll just put this in a coin locker until we're ready to leave. Hikari and Sora-san should be right outside, so you can find them. I'll meet back up with you in a minute."

Before Daisuke could grab onto him or ask him to wait and help him walk, Takeru had run off with the bag, leaving Daisuke alone in his pink frilly dress, trying to figure out how he was going to make it from his stall to the door without falling over.

It took Daisuke a full minute to make the ten steps to the bathroom door. Every time he took a step forward he wobbled and felt like he was going to fall flat on his face. Every step was a test of balance and precision that even his many years of soccer practice didn't seem to make him strong enough for. 'Girls are insane,' Daisuke thought unhappily, wondering suddenly how they managed to walk upright at all. Suddenly an image of an entire city full of women wobbling and tipping over appeared in his mind, and he snickered. 'Guess they must have some kinda better balance or something... or maybe that's why they have those huge hips!'

Finally exiting the somewhat stinky bathroom, Daisuke found himself back in the main room, near the bar. His gaze slid over the room, trying to spot Sora or Hikari nearby, but he didn't see them. He frowned and slowly and carefully made it over to a bar stool and sat down, facing the crowd of dancers. Sitting at the bar was _much _safer than being out there where people would see how stupid he looked or maybe grab his ass like they kept doing, or just where he would fall over on strangers and probably give them the wrong idea AND flash his humiliating panties to the crowd.

No, sitting at the bar was definitely the safest thing to do. Let Sora, Hikari, and Takeru find _him_. He was safe and sound right there.

"Want a drink, kid?" the bartender asked from behind him.

Daisuke spun around on the stool carefully, blinking at him. "Uh. No, thanks."

"Well, you gotta buy a drink or get off the stool, house rules. Now whatcha wanna drink?" The man looked irritated and tired.

Daisuke decided that buying a drink was a small price to pay for the safety of his stool. "Whatever, I guess." He had no idea how to order drinks at a bar, and hoped the man would at least give him something that didn't taste too terrible.

"Yeah, right. Here." The man made him a drink and sat it on the bar in front of him in a small fancy glass. Daisuke shoved a few bills at him from his wallet, which he'd had the foresight to grab from his pants, and picked up the glass, sipping it slowly.

'Well, at least it doesn't taste _too_ terrible,' Daisuke thought, wrinkling his nose. He'd never liked the way alcohol tasted, all bitter and strange in his mouth. He preferred milkshakes and soda to this stuff, but at least this drink had some kind of fruity stuff drowning out the alcohol enough that Daisuke could drink it without gagging.

"Oh, there you are, honey!" Takeru's voice came from a few feet away.

Daisuke turned towards the sound of his voice and he squinted at him suspiciously. "Honey?" Maybe he'd had too much to drink.

"Yes, dear, it's me!" Takeru giggled like a little girl and slid onto the stool next to Daisuke, wrapping an arm around him.

He only smelled a little like underarms, despite the fact that he'd obviously just been dancing. Instead, he smelled like fruity body spray, like what Jun used. Daisuke wasn't sure if that was any better.

"Uh, Takeru-" Daisuke began, wondering what kind of weird trick this was.

"See? I told you I had a boyfriend," Takeru said to a man that walked up and stood before them. He was tall and sort of handsome, although all the facial piercings and the green spiked hair kind of ruined any good looks he had.

"Hey, I'm-" Daisuke tried again.

"Sorry, he's been drinking," Takeru said to the man, then turned to Daisuke and smiled widely. "I told you not to have so much, silly-willy!"

Gaping at Takeru, Daisuke couldn't even bring himself to respond. His mind formed a blank. This was quite possibly the most horrifying moment of his life. Takeru was actually using 'baby-talk' on him, and he thought he might throw up.

The man grunted and nodded. "Ah, yeah, I get it. Well, too bad, I was gonna ask you to come over to my new place."

Takeru wagged a finger at the man and grinned coyly. "Now now, don't say things like that, my lover here might get jealous, right snuggles?" Takeru batted his eyes at Daisuke.

"UH," was all Daisuke could manage to say. 'SNUGGLES?!'

The man shrugged and walked away, blending in with the crowd of dancers until they couldn't see him anymore. Then Takeru finally pulled away and sighed, seeming irritated.

Finally Daisuke's mind began to function again, and he began to wonder... _did_ Takeru like him? What was that all about?! Did he really think this was a date, or was it some kind of trick to get his attention?! Daisuke's gaze wandered up and down Takeru's body as he considered him, then he frowned slowly and opened his mouth to speak, only hoping that Takeru wouldn't start crying - or worse - call him snuggles again.

"Takeru, I-"

"Yes?" Takeru asked, looking annoyed.

"I would never, _ever_ date you," Daisuke said firmly, with the most serious expression he could muster. Obviously Takeru had some sort of problem with his _head_, and it wasn't worth saying it nicely if that risked having him misunderstand somehow.

Frowning at Daisuke, Takeru looked even more irritated. "Likewise."

Daisuke jerked back, feeling as if he'd been struck. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that you're not my _type_, Daisuke-kun," Takeru said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I only did that to get that jerk to back off. You let someone touch you _once_-"

"You let him touch you?!" Daisuke asked, horrified. "Just now?!"

"Of _course _not just now. A few years ago." Takeru shrugged. "I... dated a few different people back then."

Slowly nodding, Daisuke finally began to understand. "Right, 'cause that person you like didn't like you, right? 'Cause they don't like gay guys. So you tried to find someone else?"

Takeru grinned in a bitter sort of way and shrugged. "Yes, something like that. I hoped that they'd get jealous."

"Did they?" Daisuke asked, eyes widening, and suddenly wondering if that sort of thing worked.

Takeru glanced away. "Not jealous enough."

"Oh," Daisuke said, suddenly feeling awkward. He didn't know what else to say. A minute passed, and then another, while he tried to think of something to say. He sipped his drink quietly, watching Takeru and wondering how he could get the other boy to stop moping. He started to feel warm from the alcohol, and wondered if he should stop drinking, but it seemed like that would be a waste of money.

"You know-" Daisuke began - wondering if the 'other fish in the sea' speech would work _this_ time, since he couldn't think of anything else - when someone grabbed his arm, making him jump and spill the last of his drink on the floor. "Augh no!"

"It's not the ghost, Daisuke-kun," Takeru said dryly, reading Daisuke's mind.

"He's here," Hikari said, panting, leaning on Daisuke's arm. "I just saw... I just saw him come in! I think he got Sora-san!"

Daisuke blinked at the girl that was using his arm to lean on and he felt his heart race. "Wh-who's here?! Not-"

"It's _not_ the ghost!" Takeru said again, snapping at him.

"Well, it coulda-" Daisuke began, realizing slowly that he really _had _drunk too much, and frowned, irritated with himself.

"No, it couldn't!" Takeru retorted, standing up and sighing. "It's Taichi-san, right?"

Hikari nodded, looking horrified. "I'm going to have to explain, aren't I?"

Daisuke's eyes widened. "Taichi-senpai?! Here?! Why?!"

"I don't know," Hikari said, looking unhappy and still a bit scared. "He hasn't come here in ages. I thought Yamato-san had banned him from it."

Takeru pursed his lips. "I'm sure it won't be that bad."

She shut her eyes and sighed. "It's going to hurt his feelings so much."

"Why?" Daisuke asked, wrinkling his nose. "Just 'cause you and Sora-san are dating?"

Hikari shrugged weakly and gave him a sad grin. "That I lied to him."

"Then why did you?" Daisuke asked, forehead furrowed. "Why would you lie to Taichi-senpai?!"

Hikari straightened and looked like she was calming from the initial shock of being caught. "My parents... they really want grandchildren. But with oniichan being gay, well... I didn't know how to tell them that I was as well. Plus, I thought... oniichan is very protective of me... when he heard our parents talking about how they thought I was dating Takeru-kun, he started being really cold towards him. I didn't want him to be like that to Sora-san, they're such good friends! But then time passed and... then it was too _late _to tell him, because... then he'd be hurt."

"Well you couldn't hide it forever, right?" Daisuke said, looking at her for the first time as a normal person, and not some sort of holy _thing _that could do no wrong.

"I know," Hikari said weakly, looking embarrassed. "I was waiting for the right time. But the right time... it never came."

"Well, it looks like it has now," Takeru said, stepping forward a bit and grinning widely. "Taichi-san, what a surprise to see you here!"

Taichi had emerged from the crowd with Sora, who was irritated looking and flushed. He was wearing black leather pants and a red button-up short-sleeved shirt that appeared to be made of something shimmery, like silk. Daisuke lips parted in a small 'o', suddenly forgetting that he was supposed to be worried about Hikari, or that he was wearing a pink dress, and he stared. Taichi looked _good_. He blinked hard and raised his hand to take another gulp of the drink, then blinked at it, realizing that his cup was on the floor. He frowned at his empty hand and then looked back to Taichi, wishing he had more alcohol in his system to help him process what he was seeing.

Then Daisuke noticed Taichi's expression and everything snapped back into place.

"What the _hell_ is going on?!" Taichi yelled at them, looking furious.

Hikari flinched and stepped forward. "Oniichan, I never meant to lie, I just-"

"But you _did_," Taichi said. "You _did _lie."

"I just," she said weakly. "I just thought you'd be angry with Sora-san for dating me, so..."

"I _am_!" Taichi said, turning towards his once-best-friend. "What the _hell_ Sora?!"

The older girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Hikari-chan is old enough to decide who she dates, Taichi, it's her choice!"

"Yeah? Well she could have made a _better_ one," he growled at her.

"Oh, like the ones _you_ make?" Sora growled back, fisting her hands.

"Oniichan! Sora-san! Please... stop it," Hikari finished quietly, looking as if she was going to cry.

Both of them stepped back and looked at her, and both of them looked a little guilty for making her feel that way.

"She didn't mean it," Takeru said, looking a little upset. "She didn't want to hide it from you, but you've always been really protective of her and she didn't want to ruin your friendship with Sora-san. After that, she just didn't want to upset you! She was only worried about hurting your feelings, Taichi-san."

Glancing away, Taichi looked irritated, but this time Daisuke could tell it was more with himself. "What the hell kind of brother was I if you thought I'd get pissed over something stupid like this?"

Sora relaxed slowly, then grinned at him. "A very good brother, who looked after his sister. Right?"

Hikari nodded quickly. "Oniichan, I'm sorry, I really am! Please, just..."

Taichi sighed and ran a hand through his hair, smirking a bit. "Ah, hey, don't cry or nothin', okay? I'm not mad. Just... I was surprised is all. No biggie. I'm glad you're happy." He paused, then frowned. "You _are_ happy, right? She treats you good and stuff?" He cast Sora a threatening glare.

Hikari brightened slowly and nodded. "Sora-san is wonderful. I... love her very much."

Sora flushed and smiled back at Hikari, and suddenly it seemed like they were the only people in the room. Daisuke wrinkled his nose and looked away, feeling as if he was intruding on something he had no right to witness.

"Ah yeah, okay. Great. Good. I'm glad. If she ever dumps you or anything tell me and I'll kill her," Taichi said, also averting his gaze and suddenly looking quite awkward.

Sora laughed and punched him on the arm lightly. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Taichi."

Taichi snorted and waved them off dismissively. "Go on, you guys should dance or somethin', right? Go enjoy your date or whatever."

Hikari stepped forward and hugged Taichi quickly, smiling widely. "Thank you, oniichan."

"Yeah, yeah," Taichi said, flushing slightly and looking embarrassed. "Go! Go on."

Sora took Hikari's hand and led her into the crowd, only looking back to wink at them as they disappeared into the sea of bodies.

"That was sure fucking awkward," Taichi mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring after them. "And is it just me or were they dressed like guys or somethin'?"

Takeru tapped him on the shoulder. "It's cross-dressing night, Taichi-san. See?"

Taichi turned around and stared at Takeru with raised eyebrows. "So it is." He smirked. "Guess I've seen you like that enough times that I don't notice anymore."

Takeru laughed and tried to look coy. "Who, me? I suppose I've dressed this way once or twice, but-"

"Once or twice? More like every chance you get. Pervert," Taichi said, amused. "Though it has been a while, huh?"

"Yes, but now that oniichan and I have made up and you know I'm not dating Hikari-chan, I'll be sure to show up to all your parties in drag," Takeru said, winking. "Since you enjoy it so much."

"Oh, I look forward to it," Taichi said, looking amused.

Daisuke felt his stomach sink slowly as Taichi and Takeru spoke. They had relaxed their posture, and their tone was friendly and sounded like they were both near laughing. They hadn't seen much of each other in the past few years either, because of whatever the fight was Takeru had with his brother and because of Taichi's protectiveness of Hikari, but they had still seen enough of each other to have little in-jokes, to be able to relax around each other, to have witty banter.

Daisuke wished _he _had someone to have witty banter with, but then he realized he sucked at witty banter, so even if he had someone to do it with, he couldn't. That thought just made him feel worse, and he had to look away from his friends, wondering what parties he'd missed where Takeru had shown up in a dress, and what Taichi was thinking of that was making him laugh. Why had he ever left? Why hadn't he been here to be a part of all of that? Why wasn't he able to laugh along with them?

Suddenly, Taichi's face was inches from his own, and he realized he was being stared at quite openly, and close enough to smell Taichi's breath (which smelled like cigarettes, which worried him - did Taichi-senpai smoke?!)

"No way," Taichi practically breathed the words, saying them softly. "Daisuke?!"

Stepping back quickly, Daisuke ducked his head and made a face. "Yeah, 'course it's me!"

Over Taichi's shoulder, Daisuke could see Takeru looking way too amused. What the hell was so funny?!

"Whoa, I just... well, I saw you but I thought 'that's a hot girl!' I didn't realize it was you!" Taichi looked like he was holding back a laugh, and that's when Daisuke remembered how he was dressed.

"Augh!" Daisuke quickly yanked his arms up to cover his chest and yanked his legs together as if he'd been caught standing around naked. "It's not- I mean- Takeru said- so I had to- but I-"

Taichi said nothing, but just stared at him with a large grin on his face.

Sighing heavily, Daisuke slouched and stared at the ground. "Takeru blackmailed me into it, s'not my fault. I didn't wanna. Hate him forever," he mumbled.

Snorting, Taichi nodded. "Yeah, he's evil, right?" He reached out and ruffled Daisuke's hair affectionately, just like he'd always done, and smirked. "But you _do _make a hot girl, Daisuke." He winked at him. "So don't feel bad."

Feeling himself flush a dark red, Daisuke looked up at Taichi through his bangs with the expression of someone who knows he's lost. "I don't really want to be a hot girl," he said weakly, but was happy with the odd praise despite it.

"Why not? I always had fun on cross-dressing night," Taichi said, glancing around the club and looking nostalgic. "Guess that was a long time ago, too."

"Taichi-senpai cross-dressed?!" Daisuke jerked his head up and gaped at the older boy.

"Yeah, sure, it's the thing to do, you know?" Taichi shrugged. "'Course, I always wore this red Chinese silk dress number, and these six inch heels I could barely walk in. Guess I went for the 'sexy' look instead of the 'cute' look, but you got it to work for you."

Humiliated, Daisuke gave Takeru his best look of hate. "Why didn't _I _get a sexy outfit?! If I have to be a girl, couldn't I be a girl like Taichi-senpai?!"

Takeru rolled his eyes again, and Daisuke bristled. That was becoming an action Takeru used on him _far_ too often. "But you're _not_ a sexy girl, Daisuke."

Taichi laughed finally, and Daisuke felt his stomach lurch. Taichi was laughing at him! He was going to throw up. He couldn't handle it anymore, he was going to puke. The shock and the jealousy and the dizziness from the alcohol coursing through his veins and now this final humiliation... it was too much. He turned and tried to run back into the crowd, knowing that the front door was somewhere on the other side of all those people, and that he had to make it out of there right _now_.

He'd forgotten that he was wearing the rocking-horse shoes. He'd forgotten that they were already impossible to walk in, and that running in them would be even worse. He remembered those things right as his face was about to hit the concrete floor. 'This is going to hurt,' he thought distantly.

But the pain never came.

"You okay?" Taichi's voice came from right in front of his face again.

Daisuke opened his eyes, realizing that he'd squeezed them shut. He was sitting on the floor, sprawled a bit, but his face had never hit the ground. He looked around in confusion. Taichi was sitting in front of him, an arm wrapped around his waist. Daisuke blushed.

"Guess my reflexes are still okay, huh?" Taichi said, grinning a crooked grin. "Didn't really keep you from falling on your ass though, huh? But at least your head's okay, right?"

"I wouldn't say that," Takeru said wryly from behind them.

"Oh," Daisuke said, shaking his head and realizing what had happened. Taichi had grabbed him just in time to yank him around so he'd land on his bottom instead of his head. Daisuke grinned, embarrassed for having made a scene. "Thanks. I'm fine!" He hopped up quickly, then yowled and fell back down on his ass.

"Hey, careful! What's wrong?" Taichi asked, looking worried.

"My ankle," Daisuke moaned unhappily, grabbing it. "I guess I twisted it." He looked up at Takeru and glared darkly. "This is _your_ fault for giving me these stupid shoes! Now my leg's probably broke or something!"

Taichi gently grasped Daisuke's ankle and squeezed it, shaking his head. "Nah, it's not broken. Probly you just pulled it."

Takeru eyed them quietly for a moment, then shrugged, his grin faded. "Daisuke-kun should go home, then."

"First smart thing you've said all day," Daisuke mumbled, trying to get up again, this time much more carefully.

Taichi was frowning at him consideringly. "Can you walk that far?"

"Not in _these _shoes," Daisuke said, looking down at his feet. He got into a standing position, then wobbled a bit.

Taichi grabbed his arm, steadying him. "Okay, so where are your other shoes?"

"Oh, I put them in a locker, over there," Takeru said, grinning slowly.

"Can you go get 'em?" Taichi asked. "He should really let his ankle rest or it's gonna swell up and stuff."

Takeru raised his eyebrows innocently. "Sorry, they're timed lockers. I set it for two hours. I can't get them until then. I thought we'd be here all night."

Daisuke gaped at him. "Timed lockers?! That's stupid! Why?!"

"Ah, it's so you set them for too long and then you can't leave if you get tired early, you have to stay until your locker is open again, and then you end up spending more money on drinks." Taichi smirked, shrugging. "Okay, guess I'm helping you get home, then."

Daisuke's eyes widened, and shook his head. "Takeru said he'd stay at my house tonight, so you don't have to! Shouldn't you go home to Yamato-san?" Daisuke's lips twitched into a nervous grin as he spoke the words. "He was kinda angry last time you spent the night at my place, right?"

Taichi's expression suddenly darkened, as if he was remembering something. "Oh. No, we had a fight. Fuck him. You need help, I'm gonna help you." He glanced at Takeru. "You mind telling him where I am? I'll go home tomorrow and we can... talk or whatever, okay?"

Takeru nodded slowly, his grin faded and a small expression of concern surfacing. "Sure."

"Thanks," Taichi said, nodding at Daisuke. "So, that's it. I'm staying at your place, okay?"

Daisuke felt his heart race and his stomach jerk again. "S-sure!" He forced a grin, and took a step forward, only to wobble all over again.

That's when he found himself scooped up into the air.

"Looks like I'm carrying you, too," Taichi said, grinning at him.

Daisuke felt dizzy from the amount of blood that rushed to his face to supply him with a dark enough blush for the situation. "What?!"

"Well, you can't walk. It's no biggie, you're pretty light." He nodded to Takeru. "Seeya later."

Takeru waved, his expression blank.

Daisuke shut his eyes tightly, and did his best to breathe slowly and deeply, trying to force his blush to fade, and his heart to slow down. Finally they stepped outside the club and into the cool night air, and he was able to relax. He opened his eyes and looked up at Taichi's face, wrapping his arms carefully around the older boy's neck so he wouldn't fall. "Thanks," he mumbled sheepishly.

"Like I said, no big deal," Taichi replied, grinning a bit.

They walked like that for a minute, getting stares and giggles from the people they passed, until they didn't bother Daisuke anymore. Besides, it was _Taichi-senpai_, so they were obviously just jealous that he was being carried around by a hot guy. He felt just a little bit smug, and then felt guilty for it.

"What did you and Yamato-san fight about?" he asked, trying to find something for them to talk about.

Taichi pursed his lips for a moment before answering. "I got the coaching job."

Daisuke lit up and smiled widely. "That's so cool! It's awesome! I knew you could do it!" He beamed at Taichi, and then slowly cocked his head. "Why would that make you fight?"

Taichi frowned. "It doesn't make as much money. It's not like it's not _enough_, it's just... less. I guess he thought I shoulda discussed it with him before quitting my other job. Whatever. I was miserable, and this job will be awesome, and he doesn't even fucking care."

Daisuke winced. "I'm sorry. It's my fault, I got you the interview."

Taichi snorted and shook his head. "Not your fault. Just the way it is." Then he grinned and winked at Daisuke. "Besides, you saved _me_ this time, not the other way around. I was going nuts working in that office."

Daisuke felt that blush coming back, but he didn't really care. "I'm glad I was able to help."

Taichi smiled at him, and nodded towards the building they were approaching. "Is this it?"

Daisuke nodded in return.

"Well hey, it all works out right in the end. At least I can protect you from that ghost, right?"

Daisuke felt his lips curl up into a grin, and he felt distantly guilty... for not feeling guilty.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: Once again, thank you to everyone for your patience. Some big stuff happens in this chapter, so I hope it was worth the wait! Life is calming down, so I hope to have the next chapter out in a month at most. As always, reviews are to a writer as food is to a starving man, so if you read this and feel ANYTHING - love it, hate it, whatever - please let me know! I really value people's opinions, and I also love to see what people think is going to happen!

Now, on with the show:

**Chapter 8**

Apologies weren't Taichi's strong suit, but he knew that it was time to face the music. Trudging home from Daisuke's apartment, he licked his lips, still tasting the juice Daisuke had given him for breakfast. He'd offered to cook him breakfast. "I have miso soup, and I could make rice and fish," Daisuke had said. Taichi had turned him down despite the grumbling in his stomach. He didn't deserve a delicious traditional Japanese breakfast. Besides, if he came home smelling like grilled fish, his apology might not sound as genuine.

Yamato was going to be angry... he'd quit his job without discussing it with Yamato, which in hindsight _had _been a little rude (although he still didn't think he should have had to, it's not like they were married.) On top of that, he'd spent the night with Daisuke again, without talking to Yamato about it first. His stomach lurched, thinking about how soft Daisuke's bed had been, how soft Daisuke's skin had been next to his... He shook his head quickly. He definitely owed Yamato an apology. Yamato might not accept it, he realized. If things didn't go well this time, he knew that they probably never would again.

Staring up at the building they lived in, Taichi grit his teeth and stepped through the front doors. He took the stairs two at a time, wanting to get this over with quickly but knowing that the elevator might make his stomach flip around even more than it was already. He didn't really want to show up smelling like barf, either.

When he reached his floor, he reached into his pocket, relieved to find that his keys were still there. He hadn't checked for them when he'd put his pants back on that morning, and he'd forgotten that last time they'd fallen out and gotten lost. At least something was going his way.

He opened the door and he expected to find Yamato sitting on the sofa, arms folded, hair perfectly in place, looking cold and distant and just waiting for him to come in and accept his fate. That was precisely _not_ what he found.

The living room was empty. Taichi frowned and shut the door behind himself, kicked off his shoes, and walked in hesitantly, wondering if the other man was possibly waiting around a corner with a hammer, or his guitar case, or some other heavy object he could bludgeon Taichi to death with. But Yamato wasn't in the living room.

"Yamato?" Taichi finally called out, glancing into the empty kitchen before walking past the sofa towards the bedroom. Then he froze, staring at the couch in confusion. There was a shirt on the couch. Yamato's shirt was on the couch. Suddenly, Taichi knew that something was wrong. Yamato would _never_ leave his clothes lying around, crumpled up like that. Was he _that_ angry? Was he sick? Had they been robbed?!

Snatching up the shirt, Taichi carried it with him to the bedroom, suddenly too worried to remember his previous fears of facing Yamato. "Yamato! Where the hell a-"

Taichi froze in the doorway to the bedroom, frowning. "There you are. Why the hell didn't you answer me?!"

Yamato glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, but it wasn't the delicate, precise motion that Taichi was used to. And since when did Yamato lay around in bed in his robe all day?

"You're sick, huh?" Taichi felt his anger fade quickly, and he came into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What happen, drink too much?"

Glancing away, Yamato shrugged. "Is that where you were? Drinking?"

"Ah. Um, no..." Taichi grinned sheepishly, hoping that hung over-Yamato would be more rational and easy to forgive than normal-Yamato. "I kinda stayed at Dai's place."

"...Dai's place," Yamato repeated, smiling bitterly.

"Uh, Daisuke's." Taichi winced at the expression on Yamato's face. "I mean, since we'd had that fight, and then Daisuke was in a dress and I had to help him walk home from the club-"

"You went clubbing?" Yamato's eyes narrowed quickly, and suddenly he looked more like his usual self.

"Well, I mean... yeah, kinda." Taichi sulked a bit. "I ran into Daisuke and Takeru there. And Hikari, turns out she's gay and dating Sora." He smirked, hoping Yamato would see the humor in that at least.

"Oh, you finally noticed?" Yamato said, looking unamused.

"...Yeah, guess so," Taichi replied, glancing away and gritting his teeth. The momentary pause from anger ended. He'd come home to apologize, and this was the response he got? "Anyway, I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"What for?" Yamato asked.

"Not coming home and yelling and all that stuff, okay? That's not how I wanted it to go." Taichi winced, the words tasted bitter in his mouth.

Then Yamato's expression softened slightly, and he went back to looking sick and tired. "This isn't how I wanted it to go, either. But you can admit it, Taichi. I know about you and Daisuke."

Taichi frowned, looking back at Yamato. "Say what?"

"You stayed at his house all night. You _smell_ like him," Yamato said, not making eye contact. "I know what happened."

"You know... _what_, exactly?! What the hell do you think I did?!" Taichi snapped, his hands fisting in his lap.

"Do you think I'm stupid?!" Yamato snapped back, his anger returning full-force. "I've seen the way you look at each other, and I know how he feels about you!" Smirking bitterly, Yamato narrowed his eyes. "You never could resist a fresh piece of ass, let alone a boy in a skirt."

Suddenly feeling warm all over from the anger that was welling up within him, Taichi could barely resist punching the person in front of him. How dare he say something like that?! Daisuke was _not_ just a 'piece of ass.' "I didn't fuck him!"

"Then who did you fuck?! The lipstick on your collar's kind of an obvious giveaway, Taichi, I'd think you'd have the decency to at least TRY to hide it!"

"The lipstick on my... what?!" Taichi unbuttoned his own shirt just enough to pull the collar out to where he could see it. Sure enough, there was a smudge of pink there. He rolled his eyes and snorted. "That's from when I carried him home. YOUR perverted little brother dressed him in drag and the shoes he gave him hurt his leg, so-"

"Takeru is NOT PERVERTED," Yamato snapped back, flames flickering in his eyes.

Taichi stilled, a bit stunned. After all he'd said, _that _was what had gotten through? None of the stuff about how he hadn't cheated, none of what he'd said, until he brought up _Takeru's_ name. He slowly looked down at the shirt he was holding in his hand, thinking he should shove it in Yamato's face dramatically before punching him, or maybe throw it at him and storm off. Instead, he noticed a bit of red smudged on the collar of the shirt, almost in exactly the same place his was. "What... the fuck... is this?"

Yamato frowned and snatched the shirt away, looking irritated. "It's my SHIRT, Taichi, and I left it out there because I've been too pissed off to care about-"

"What the fuck IS THIS?!" Taichi yelled, grabbing the shirt and holding the collar up to Yamato's face. "Who the fuck is cheating on who now?!"

Yamato froze. His lips moved a bit, but no sound came out.

"You... you fucking bastard," Taichi growled. "You accuse me of cheating on you, and the whole time you've been fucking around!"

"N-no, it's not... it's not like that, alright?!" Yamato said angrily, looking like he wasn't sure if he should fight or run.

"What the fuck is it like, Yamato?!" Taichi leaned forward and grabbed the front of Yamato's robe, yanking him forward and sniffed his neck, growling. "You smell like sex." Taichi's mind raced for a moment, until it all clicked. "...That whore. It was that fucking whore, wasn't it?!"

"Taichi, if you say that again-" Yamato started, looking as if he'd chosen the fight instead of the flee instinct. He yanked away, glaring icicles at Taichi, but Taichi didn't notice.

"If I say what?! Whore?! Slut?! You mean that?! I fucking KNEW IT. I knew one day that slut would be back around and the minute you could, you'd start fucking!" Taichi stood and paced towards the door and back, fuming, his head spinning from the anger. Yamato had cheated on him. Yamato had _cheated_ on him. Yamato had _cheated_ on _him_.

"Shut up before I make you! You're no better!" Yamato stood, yanking his robe tightly around himself and fisting his hands threateningly.

Taichi strode towards him and grabbed the front of his robe again, pulling him close so their faces were an inch apart, and growled the words at him, oozing hatred. "I. Never. Cheated. On. You."

Yamato grabbed Taichi's wrists and yanked on them, but Taichi was stronger than him. Yamato couldn't get him to let go. "I don't believe you," he finally spat.

After giving Yamato a long heated glare, Taichi shoved him back and let go, stomping towards the closet and yanking out his clothes as quickly as he could.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Yamato shouted, grabbing Taichi's shoulder and trying to yank him back towards the fight. "Running away?!"

Taichi tensed, but continued packing his duffel bag. "It's not running away to leave a sinking ship," Taichi growled under his breath. He quickly gathered his socks and underwear, and went to the bathroom for his deodorant and toothbrush.

Yamato was hot on his heels. "So what?! You're just going to leave?!"

Gripping the bathroom sink tightly. Taichi glared at Yamato's reflection in the mirror. "Did you fucking cheat on me?"

"I-" Yamato hesitated, paling and looking just a bit frightened of Taichi suddenly.

"DID you fucking CHEAT on me?!" Taichi yelled, turning to face the other man.

"Yes!" Yamato yelled back, standing his ground. "You make decisions on your own, we fight all the time, you never fucking apologize, and then you left! You left and stayed at HIS house, and didn't even have the fucking decency to call and let me know what was up! Besides, you cheated on me first!"

"I fucking told you, I didn't cheat on you! But you know what? _You _did. You fucked around. And that's the one fucking thing I'm not willing to forgive."

Yamato glanced away, and then stepped aside. "Then go."

"That's the idea," Taichi growled, and he shoved past the other man, grabbing his bag and heading towards the front door. "Tell that slut to come back all you want now. And when things get all fucked up, you can deal with it on your own this time. I'm fucking done."

Taichi barely took note of the look of anger mixed with fear on Yamato's face when he looked back before slamming the door behind himself. All he could hear was Yamato admitting it, over and over. "Yes."

---

The bar was dark and cold, like the lights needed to be turned up and the air conditioning down. Taichi liked it that way, it suited his mood. It was much better than the other... ten or so bars he'd been to that day. What time was it, anyway? He'd been bar-hopping since he left home, and he wasn't sure how long it had been or how many beers he had drunk.

Sitting on a bar stool with his bag on the floor next to him and nursing a beer, he tried to think. It wasn't easy. There were so many more pleasant things in the world than thinking about your problems. Unfortunately, it was about time to do just that.

Were they broken up? Was it for real, or was this just another fight? He wasn't even sure. He didn't know how the fights had gotten that bad, or how they'd gotten so far as to have fights this bad. How the hell did it all happen?

And then he remembered. First they'd had that sudden fling in his bed in the middle of the afternoon. Then they'd just sort of... kept having them. They hadn't talked about having a real relationship, they hadn't talked about anything. They just hung out, like always, and had sex. Taichi hadn't really minded that at all. It was nice and casual and relaxed, and it was just what he needed at the time. It's what he thought Yamato wanted, too, having been on rebound at the time... sort of.

Then Taichi had hit on that girl... what was her name? He frowned at his beer, staring into the foam as if it could tell him. Finally he sighed and drank a bit more. He wasn't going to remember her name, it had been too long. He felt guilty for forgetting, at the time it had been so important and stressful. He wondered when it was that he forgot.

Shrugging, he went back to staring blankly at the bar counter, and smirked. 'Couldn't ever resist a piece of ass indeed,' Taichi thought, nodding a bit. 'Guess he wasn't too far off on that one.'

The girl was cute and boyish and wore her hair short and her skirts shorter. Taichi had always appreciated a person in a short skirt, especially ones with legs like hers. She'd flirt with him, and he'd flirt back, and Yamato would glare. Taichi, of course, never once noticed the glaring. Why would Yamato care if some girl liked him?

Then there had been that party, and she was there, and Yamato hadn't wanted to come, so Taichi decided he might as well spend his time with the young lady who seemed to like stroking his ego so much.

Turns out she liked stroking other things, too.

He smirked a bit into his beer and chuckled, remembering what an odd yet pleasant surprise it had been when he'd gotten her skirt down around her knees and realized what the bulge in the front of her panties was. She explained later that she was a woman at heart, or something like that. Taichi didn't really care, she was good with her tongue, and he wasn't about to turn down sex with someone hot, regardless of their gender.

That's when Yamato flipped out at him, really flipped out at him, for the first time. Taichi had come home to brag, and hadn't gotten the reaction he'd expected. Yamato assumed that in this case sex had meant a relationship for some reason, and Taichi never had. Maybe it was because they'd done it so many times, he wasn't sure. If Yamato had wanted a relationship, he'd screamed at one point, why hadn't he just said so?! And Yamato had said that maybe he was saying that now. And then Taichi sort of froze, and realized that it was too late to back out now.

Yamato had abandonment issues aplenty, and Taichi had always felt like it had been mostly him that had brought Yamato out of his shell and gotten him to trust people again. Heaven forbid Yamato ever find out, but Taichi was only protective of three people more than Yamato, and he knew he couldn't ever forgive himself if he was the one to give his friend more reason to mistrust people. He was the leader, damnit, and it was his job.

Besides, if he had to have a real relationship, he figured that dating his best friend couldn't be bad. After all, they got along, they understood each other, the sex was generally quite good, and he had no real complaints. He enjoyed being around Yamato, and while he didn't feel passionately in love with him, Taichi wasn't a 'passionately in love' kind of person.

So they'd agreed to date. And Taichi had made it abundantly clear, what he expected. 'Don't fuck around. I won't, you won't, and it's all good.' Yamato had agreed, making one last snide remark that _he _wasn't the one that was likely to do such a thing.

"Fucking hell, he's not the one to cheat... figured that one out a little late," Taichi mumbled at the bar counter, then looked up, frowning at his own reflection in the smoky mirror hanging behind the bar. He had bags under his eyes, and what appeared to be beginnings of wrinkles in the corners of his mouth. He opened his mouth wide and winced, relieved. No, his lips were just chapped, that's all. Still, he glared at himself. "You look old, asshole."

"You shouldn't talk like that to the bartender, Taichi, it's not polite," said a familiar voice from next to him.

Taichi glanced over at the short-haired brunette sitting beside him and smirked. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Getting a beer, what does it look like? My apartment is right behind here," Sora said, waving vaguely towards the back of the bar. "Sometimes I come get a drink when I've got lots of papers to write. It's good to take a break."

"That's real butch of you, Sora," Taichi said, going back to his beer. "But you'd better not do that kinda shit when Hikari marries you or whatever. She doesn't like drinking."

"Oh, she likes wine just fine," Sora began in a knowing tone of voice, then she cut herself off, smirking playfully.

Making a sour expression, Taichi have her a tired glare. "Seriously, are you going to leave me alone or not?"

Sora leaned in, peered at Taichi's face closely, then shook her head. "No."

"Ah, good to know," Taichi mumbled irritably, motioning for the bartender to bring him another beer. He was going to need even more than he already did if Sora was going to hang around.

"Relationship problems?" Sora asked, ordering a beer of her own.

Taichi grunted in response, not really wanting to talk about it with a girl, even if it was a girl that was barely a girl like Sora.

"You know, most people want to be happy," Sora said, taking the beer the bartender handed her and drinking it slowly.

Taichi made a face at her. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Most people want to be happy," she repeated. "But for some people it's absolutely vital. People like you," she made a dismissive motion with one had in his direction. "need to be happy, or they bring down everyone around them."

"Y'know, if my bad mood is bothering you, then you can just go the hell away," Taichi growled, seriously wondering if hitting Sora counted as hitting a girl. "Don't start practicing that therapist shit on me damnit, you don't even have a degree yet and I'm not gonna see you even when you do."

She just grinned at him. "My point is, everyone around you feels better when you're in a good mood, Taichi. Yamato-kun could have easily been the leader, but you're the one we all ended up following. Know why?"

"Because I'm so much hotter than him and I could kick his ass?" Taichi grumbled, quickly tiring of the conversation.

"You were always happy and that made everyone feel like things would be okay. You were always so sure of yourself and knew what to do. And even when you didn't actually know, and did something really stupid, things worked out for you. Yamato-kun might be more rational and calm, but you were better at leading. Besides, you've got a lot of luck."

"What the hell are you saying, that I'm happy because I'm dumb and I'm lucky and that's the only reason things work out for me?!"

"Not completely," Sora replied.

"You fucking bitch, I can't believe you're dating my sister and saying all that shit-" Taichi grit his teeth, not feeling in the mood at all for more teasing.

"But for the past year or so, you haven't been very happy," Sora said, giving him a sidelong glance. "You need to be happy if you want to make other people happy, you know."

Taichi stilled, frowning at her. "So? That's how it is. You grow up and get a job and work and it's no fun anymore."

Her lips quirked up into a grin, and she gave him a look that read 'you're so cute and dumb,' and he wanted to hit her again. "Oh, the Taichi I knew wouldn't have ever said 'that's the way it is.' The Taichi I knew when I was little would have said 'that's stupid, I'm not going to let anything ruin my fun!'"

"What the hell's your point?" Taichi grumbled, not really sure what to say in response to that.

"I had a crush on you, you know," Sora said softly, losing the eye contact and staring down into her own beer. "When we were little, in elementary school. You were very cool, and masculine, and you never let anything get you down. I admired you for that, I think we all did."

Taichi felt his back tense, and he stiffened just a bit. 'Awkward,' he thought, wondering why the hell she had to go and tell him that now.

"Of course, then I grew up and realized the only reason I was attracted to you is because at the time I had wanted to be a little boy as well. And then I developed taste, and went after your dear little sister," Sora said happily.

Taichi's expression soured again. "I don't really wanna know the details."

"My point is, Yagami Taichi is a man who knows what he wants and goes out and gets it, and who doesn't let life turn boring and terrible, and who's always doing something cool and interesting... at least in his own eyes."

Taichi felt his lips turn upwards into a very slight grin.

"Of course, Yagami Taichi is also a man who _never_ need a _girl_ to sit in a bar with him in the middle of the night and give him pep-talks," Sora continued, smirking evilly.

"Not like I asked you for one!" Taichi said, standing and slamming some coins down onto the counter before grabbing his back. "What the hell, not like it's my fault you like to talk."

"Leaving so soon?" Sora asked, ignoring his anger completely. "I have so many more searing comments about your ego and your hair, you should really stay and hear them."

"No thanks," Taichi said dryly, glaring at her. "I'm gonna go find a bed to sleep in."

Sora nodded and turned back around to face the mirror, grinning at his reflection. "Good luck."

Taichi snorted. "I don't need it."

Five minutes later, however, he wondered if he should retract those words. The beer was getting to him, and he knew he wasn't walking in a straight line anymore, and his bag was feeling increasingly heavy. He made his way carefully through the large doors of the apartment building, and walked heavily up the stairs, and finally made it to the door that he was too drunk and tired to be nervous about knocking on.

He banged on the door, and it opened moments later.

"Hey Daisuke, I kinda need a place to stay." Taichi grinned sheepishly. "Is it cool if I crash here?"

Daisuke's nodded, chewing a bit on the toothbrush in his mouth.

"Is it cool if I crash here for longer than just tonight?" Taichi asked again, willing to push his luck.

Daisuke removed the toothbrush from his mouth and frowned a bit. "Did something happen? ...Are you drunk?"

"Yes," Taichi said, pausing and thinking for a moment. "And almost."

"Oh," Daisuke said, blinking in surprise.

Dragging his bag behind him, Taichi came into the apartment and kicked off his shoes. "I'll explain tomorrow," he said, suddenly feeling exhausted. "For now, just point me to where I can sleep."

As Daisuke led Taichi into the bedroom, Taichi thought back over the fight he and Yamato had just had, and what he'd found out. Yamato had cheated on him. He'd avoided thinking about that fact since he'd walked out of the apartment earlier that night. He grit his teeth and lay down firmly under the covers, shutting his eyes tightly. He wasn't going to get angry now, he was too tired, and he sure as hell wasn't going to get upset, not in front of Daisuke.

He waited for the lights to go out before he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, trying not to picture what Yamato had done the night before.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: Well, it took me long enough, huh? But here's a new chapter! Sorry for the long wait, everyone. I'll do my best to get another chapter out a lot faster this time! Feedback and comments are really great, as always, so lemme know what you think!

---

**Chapter 9**

Stepping out of the bath, Takeru sighed happily. He felt much better after bathing in hot water and washing his hair. He grabbed a large fluffy towel from the towel rack and began to dry off, humming a bit under his breath. Today was going to be a good day. Once he was dressed, he knew he had some donuts in the kitchen that he could have for breakfast, and then he'd call his brother to see how he was doing.

These pleasant thoughts were rudely interrupted when Takeru heard the doorbell ring. Frowning, he wrapped the towel around himself and went to the front door, dripping a bit on the floor as he went.

'I'm not going to answer unless it's someone really important,' he thought, looking through the peephole.

"Takeru! I know you're in there! Lemme in!" Daisuke yelled through the door, trying to see through the peephole himself.

Takeru sighed and opened the door just far enough to scowl out at Daisuke. "It's not a good time, come back later."

"I don't care!" Daisuke said, shoving his foot in the door and trying to pry it open. "Lemme in!"

"No! I'm busy, go away!" Takeru pushed on the door as hard as he could, but it didn't matter.

Daisuke shoved the door open and fell into Takeru's apartment, face first. Takeru jumped out of the way, barely avoiding getting crushed by Daisuke's flailing body. "Ow," Daisuke moaned unhappily, sitting up and rubbing the new red spot on his forehead.

Takeru sighed and tightened the towel around his waist, giving Daisuke an irritated look. "What's so important?" He reached over the other boy and pushed the door shut and then turned and went back into his apartment, sitting on the couch and resigning himself to his fate.

"It's about Yamato-san!" Daisuke came into the living room and sat on the other end of the couch, folding his legs and giving Takeru a serious glare.

Takeru pursed his lips, glancing away from Daisuke and trying to look as if he knew nothing. "Oh? What about oniichan?"

"You know what about! He cheated on Taichi-senpai!" Daisuke was half-yelling and clearly horrified and enraged.

Making his expression as shocked as he could, Takeru looked back at Daisuke and gasped. "No! He wouldn't!"

Daisuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yeah, he would! And he did! The day before yesterday, after we were at the club!"

Takeru forced himself to maintain eye-contact with Daisuke and shook his head. "I'm sure there's some kind of misunderstanding, Daisuke, oniichan would never do such a thing!"

"Well he _did_, and I know 'cause Taichi-senpai told me! He tried to go home yesterday morning, and Yamato-san was _there _and he'd had sex with somebody! And I dunno if Taichi-senpai knows who, but he knows it happened! And Yamato-san admitted it!" Daisuke took a deep breath before continuing his tirade. "Taichi-senpai's been really upset and stuff! He's quitting his old job today, and he's supposed to start the new one next week but he's so upset I dunno how he's gonna be able to do all that! He didn't even eat much of the breakfast I made him!"

Takeru pursed his lips, just listening to Daisuke rant. He knew it was best to not interrupt him, or they'd never get anywhere. Once he was sure Daisuke was done - at least for the moment - he spoke. "Oh, so Taichi-san is staying at _your_ place now?"

"…You already knew!" Daisuke shouted, pointing rudely in Takeru's face. "I can tell! You already heard about it!"

Sighing, Takeru adjusted his towel and let his irritation show. "Yes, of course I did, do you really think oniichan wouldn't tell me as soon as Taichi-san left him like that?" He felt a bit guilty for lying to Daisuke, but he had to think of _some _way that he'd known about this already, and he certainly wasn't ready to tell Daisuke the truth.

"Well of course Taichi-senpai was gonna leave him, he cheated on Taichi-senpai! You can't just… just CHEAT on people, it's against the rules!" Daisuke folded his arms and pouted angrily at Takeru. "Even if he is your brother, you gotta know that!"

Takeru pursed his lips, then stood. "I'm going to go get dressed. You can leave if you want, but I have a feeling you're not going to."

Daisuke shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere!"

Sighing, Takeru stood and nodded. "Yeah, I thought not." He turned and walked to his bedroom, thankful only that his mother was at work and not at home where she'd have heard everything Daisuke was saying.

Shutting the door behind him, Takeru sighed heavily and went to his closet, pulling out some clothes, and remembering Saturday night.

---

"Oniichan!" Takeru shouted through the front door after there had been no response to his knocks. "Please, oniichan, let me in!" His heart began to race. His brother was home, he could _feel_ it, but he wasn't answering the door. Why wasn't he answering? They'd just made up, so it couldn't be that he was avoiding him, right? Something had to be wrong. Thoughts of what Taichi must have said to Yamato during their fight flooded his mind. Gods, why was that big-haired jerk so stupid? Why did he have to be so mean to his oniichan? His oniichan wasn't physically as strong as Taichi, so... could Taichi have hurt him?! "Oniichan!" Takeru shouted louder, knocking as hard as he could.

The door swung open, revealing Yamato with a perplexed expression. "Oh, Takeru. I'm sorry, I was in the shower. Is something wrong?" Yamato was rubbing his hair dry absently with a towel, he'd obviously rushed to get dressed before answering the door. His button-up shirt was moist and not fully buttoned-up.

Takeru gaped at his brother, then heaved a huge sigh of relief. "N-no, oniichan. I just... I was worried," he mumbled, coming in and slipping off his shoes once Yamato had stepped aside.

"Worried?" Yamato asked, frowning. "Why? Did something happen?" He wrapped the towel around his neck and shut the door behind Takeru.

"No," Takeru began, then he shook his head. "I mean, yes. I mean... nothing happened to _me_." He gave Yamato a sheepish look. "I'm sorry, I'm sort of confused."

Yamato nodded and led him to the living room, sitting on the couch and waiting for Takeru to join him.

Takeru sat down next to his brother and sighed again, giving him a fretful look. "Oniichan, I just ran into Taichi-san..." he ducked his head, feeling himself blush a little.

Yamato chuckled at this, and Takeru jerked his head up to see what was so funny.

"Wherever it was, Taichi must have stood out if that was the dress code," Yamato said, looking amused.

Takeru paled, his eyes went wide, and he looked down at himself, remembering what he'd been wearing. "Augh! Oniichan, I- I mean," he stammered, standing up quickly and wrapping his arms around his own middle. "I just-" His heart raced. How could he have forgotten that he'd been wearing a _skirt_?! Let alone a skirt like _this_, plus all the makeup, and- Oh, he was such an idiot!

Taking Takeru's wrist, Yamato gently tugged him back onto the couch. He smiled a bit, looking amused. "It's fine. I understand."

Takeru sat hesitantly, biting his own lip. He wondered if his brother really _did_ understand, but decided that getting into a conversation about gender-appropriate clothing would lead him off track. That's when his eyes widened and he sat forward, giving Yamato an earnest look. "But I saw Taichi-san!"

Yamato pursed his lips, then gave Takeru a stiff smile. "I'm trying to trust him. We had a fight, so... wherever it was you saw him..." Yamato sighed, looking unsure if he should ask for more information or to tell Takeru he didn't want to know.

Takeru hesitated, wondering if it was his right to tell his brother the truth. After all, Yamato was just that - his brother - not his boyfriend. Yamato's boyfriend was Taichi, and it was Taichi's responsibility to face up to Yamato and admit that he'd been sleeping around. Still... Yamato _was _his brother, and when it came down to it, that was the most important thing. Taichi deserved whatever happened to him after this.

"I think... he might be cheating on you." Takeru winced, clenching his fingers in his lap and his toes into the carpet, scared of how Yamato would react.

Shutting his eyes, Yamato said only two words very carefully. "With who?" Yamato didn't ask him why he thought that, and Takeru appreciated it. His oniichan trusted him after all.

"Daisuke-kun," Takeru said, feeling a little sick at having ratted out his friend. Still, it wasn't Daisuke's fault, and he was sure Yamato would understand that. It was Taichi's fault, and Taichi's fault alone.

Yamato nodded just slightly, and then relaxed slowly against the couch, letting out a long breath. He looked tired. Takeru noticed for the first time how thin his brother looked, and the bags under his brother's eyes. Guilt washed over him.

"I'm sorry, oniichan. I just... they left together, and they were flirting a lot and... well, I think... Daisuke has always-" he began, wanting to say something to explain it, wanting Yamato to get angry with Taichi, not be hurt by him.

Opening his eyes, Yamato gave Takeru a cold look. "I don't think you're sorry."

Takeru's jaw had dropped then, and he'd felt his eyes sting with the beginning of tears. "O-oniichan?"

"You've never wanted me to be with Taichi," Yamato said. "I suppose you were right."

"No!" Takeru half-shouted, and grabbed his brother's arm, leaning towards him. "I didn't want you with him... of course I didn't at first, but... I just wanted oniichan to be happy! No matter what, that's most important!"

Yamato's expression softened then, but he barely responded. The light in his eyes was dull, and he looked like he was far away even though he was right there.

Takeru squeezed his arm hard, willing him to stay with him, to snap out of it, to _respond. _"Please, oniichan, this isn't what I wanted! I really wanted oniichan to be happy! Please-"

"Please, what?" Yamato asked, his expression blank and cold. "Please what, Takeru? My boyfriend is sleeping with someone else right now. He's cheating on me. He's going to leave me soon, isn't he?" The rest of what Yamato wanted to say was obvious. 'Just like everyone does.'

Takeru winced. "I didn't leave you, oniichan! I never would!" His grip on his brother's arm loosened. He'd never been able to get through to him when he was this depressed. Was it depression, though? Or just hopelessness? Anger? Self-hatred? Takeru didn't know, and didn't really want to.

Yamato smirked slightly, his eyes still cold and blank. "Didn't you?"

Blinking hard, Takeru shook his head, willing himself not to cry. Hearing those words from his brother hurt worse than he was willing to admit, and he didn't want to break down now, not when Yamato needed him. "I never did! I never left you!"

Yamato's eyes narrowed then, and he leaned forward, giving Takeru a considering look. "I guess you didn't."

Takeru brightened just a bit then, and nodded quickly. "That's right, oniichan! I never left you! So-" He'd meant to say that if he never left, maybe Taichi wouldn't, maybe they could work it out. And even if he and Taichi did break up, that didn't mean he couldn't find someone else. He'd meant to reassure his brother that he'd never go. But that's when-

---

"You're taking forever!" Daisuke shouted through the door. "You can't hide, I'll break in there!" He hesitated, then continued. "But I'd rather break in if you're dressed 'cause I don't wanna see you naked or nothin', that'd be kinda gross!"

Takeru blinked hard, realizing that he was still standing in front of his closet, holding the clothes he'd meant to put on. He sighed, his train of thought derailed. "I'll be out in a moment, Daisuke."

"Yeah, okay. Can I have a soda?" Daisuke asked through the bedroom door.

Takeru grinned a bit. "Sure."

"Cool!" Daisuke replied, and Takeru could hear his footsteps going to the kitchen.

Sighing, Takeru threw on his clothes and came out into the living room. Daisuke was sitting on the couch again, this time drinking a can of soda.

"So? What do you know about it?" Daisuke asked, giving Takeru a suspicious look. "Who was it?"

"Who was what?" Takeru asked, hoping Daisuke would forget what they'd been talking about if he avoided it long enough.

"Who was the guy Yamato-san cheated on Taichi-senpai with?! We gotta go kick his ass!" Daisuke said, swinging his soda eagerly, and almost spilling it on the floor.

Takeru winced, hoping for Daisuke's sake that he didn't spill his drink. Takeru's mother had a thing about huge stains on her nice clean carpet. "Why should we do that?" he asked, still trying to avoid any real answers. Since when was Daisuke so pushy?

"_Because_ he's breaking up their... their... well, they're not married, but their... their thing! Their relationship... _thing_!" Daisuke said, giving Takeru a look. "Right? So we gotta fix it!"

Takeru frowned. "Daisuke. Don't you think part of what's breaking them up is _you_?" he asked, wondering how long Daisuke would play stupid. How could he be so eager to beat up someone who was sleeping with Yamato when _he _had been sleeping with Taichi?

Daisuke squinted at Takeru with his mouth hanging open a bit. "Huh?" he finally asked.

Takeru's eye twitched. He decided it was time to come to the point. "Don't you think that _you_ should stop sleeping with Taichi-san if you're so worried about them?!"

Daisuke's jaw dropped more, and this time he flushed. "Stop _what_?!"

"Sleeping with Taichi-san! Don't pretend you're not, I could tell at the club last night. _That_ is why I went to tell oniichan! He deserved to know!" Takeru sighed, running a hand through his own hair. "I know you can't help it, and Taichi-san probably just took advantage of you, but you really shouldn't let him!"

Daisuke's eyes were huge by the time Takeru stopped speaking, and his entire face was red. "I- I'm not-"

"Of course you are, everyone knows it," Takeru said, feeling more and more irritated. "Just tell the truth! There's no use protecting him, everyone knows he's a pervert."

"But I'm not!" Daisuke slammed his soda down on the coffee table and gave Takeru a horrified look. "I'm not... I mean... me and Taichi-senpai... he's just my friend!" He was practically glowing from how red he was. "We never... I mean... he'd never wanna-"

"Don't lie, Daisuke, you're terrible at it!" Takeru snapped, snatching up Daisuke's soda and drinking some of it down quickly. His throat was getting sore from raising his voice. He wasn't used to it.

"I'm _not_!" Daisuke yelled back, suddenly looking angry. "I'm not lying! Taichi-senpai didn't do anything with me! He's just been staying over 'cause of their fighting! And... and we never... I mean..." Daisuke ducked his head, mumbling now and looking depressed. "We never did nothin'. He's with Yamato-san."

Takeru took a long hard look at Daisuke before slowly beginning to believe him. "You... never did _anything_ with him? You never even kissed him?"

Daisuke looked up, looking embarrassed and horrified, shaking his head quickly. "No! 'Course not! He's with Yamato-san! I'd never do that!"

Slowly realizing that Daisuke was telling the truth, Takeru felt his stomach sink. "Then... Taichi-san might not be cheating on oniichan..."

"'Course he's not!" Daisuke said, looking irritated, but still embarrassed.

Takeru let that information sink into his mind, and as it did, he slowly began to feel nauseous. Taichi hadn't been cheating on his brother. Taichi had been loyal to his brother. Which meant... which meant that he'd told his brother something wrong. And that had led to...

---

Yamato kissed him. His mouth was shut, but the kiss was firm and demanding. Takeru had frozen, feeling his heart race so quickly that he wondered if he was going to have a heart attack. His brother was kissing him. Oh gods, his brother was kissing him.

Takeru had pulled away, trembling, flushed, searching his brother's face for some kind of answer. "Oniichan..." he'd finally mumbled, hoping that Yamato would say something comforting. But he didn't.

"You've never left me, Takeru," Yamato said, his eyes narrow and hungry. "You won't ever leave me, will you?"

Takeru shook his head slowly.

"Then I never should have left you," Yamato said, leaning in closer to Takeru. "You asked me to love you, didn't you?"

Takeru licked his lips quickly, swallowing hard, remembering his brother's second year of college. He remembered how that long-running crush had finally slipped out one evening, how he'd been unable to hide it any longer, and how he'd expected Yamato to be disgusted and hate him.

Instead, Yamato had held him, and told him he was sorry, and that it was Yamato's fault. Why? They hadn't grown up together, that was why, he was confused, if they'd grown up together he wouldn't think of his brother like that.

But Takeru had argued and cried and begged him to believe him. Takeru loved his oniichan, he loved him like everyone thought he loved Hikari. But Hikari was gay, she liked girls, but she didn't tell anyone because everyone thought that was wrong... so was it really that much worse for him to love his brother?

Yamato had kissed him on the forehead, and told him he was sorry again. He said that his own feelings for Takeru had led him on, had given him the wrong ideas. He said he'd always loved Takeru more than he should, that his little brother was just the only person who'd always been there, who he'd always loved. His mother had left, his father was never around, so of course he confused his feelings for Takeru for something else. That's why he'd kept it to himself. But now somehow he'd led Takeru on, he'd shown it in some way, and it was his fault that Takeru was feeling these things.

But Takeru had clung to Yamato and told him that that wasn't true, that he really did love him, that he really did want to be with him, that he didn't care what anyone else thought because oniichan was the only person in the world he could ever love.

And that's when he'd kissed his oniichan. And Yamato had kissed back. But the next day his oniichan wasn't in his bed anymore. And the day after that, his oniichan had send him an email, telling him that he was sorry, and it had been wrong, and he could never forgive himself, and that he'd never bother Takeru again.

And in a few weeks, his oniichan had been dating Taichi-san.

His heart had been broken then, hadn't it? He'd never gotten over it, and he'd clung to some hope, deep down, that his brother would love him someday. He knew it was wrong to wish that when Yamato was so happy with Taichi, and he knew that it was wrong to feel that way in the first place, but he couldn't help it. He felt how he felt, and years hadn't changed that.

So now, feeling Yamato begin to press his lips to the crook of Takeru's neck, nibbling and kissing him there - with the possibility that things could be okay, that his brother could love him back, that _this time_ he'd win him over - was too much to resist.

Takeru had turned his head and kissed his brother. His mouth was open, and he put a hand on his brother's shoulder. They'd left a trail of clothing down the hall, and had finally ended up in bed.

---

Oh gods, they'd ended up in bed together. And yesterday morning Takeru had kissed Yamato goodbye, telling him that he'd let him think, but that he loved him. And Yamato had looked like... like what? Like he was going to be okay. Like maybe he really did love Takeru back. Like maybe he wasn't disgusted or ashamed, but happy. He hadn't heard from his oniichan yet, but he knew it might take him a few days to come to terms with things.

But now he knew that what he'd told Yamato hadn't been true. Of course it hadn't.

"Taichi-san never cheated on oniichan," Takeru said again, testing the words.

Daisuke frowned, finally calming down a bit. "Well, no! That's what I've been saying! So we gotta fix this! We gotta get them back together!"

Daisuke was saying something else, something about getting revenge on whoever had come between his beloved elders, but Takeru was already halfway to the bathroom by then. Once he reached it he fell to the floor in front of the toilet and vomited. His stomach was empty, but he kept throwing up until he was too weak to do it anymore.

When he turned around, Daisuke was staring at him with wide eyes and a mildly disgusted expression.

"Um... are you okay? I mean, do you want some medicine or something?" Daisuke asked, his voice nasal from trying to breathe through his mouth and avoid the sour smell of vomit.

Takeru stood slowly, wobbling a bit, and went to the sink to wash off his face, flushing the vomit down the toilet. "No."

Daisuke nodded, glancing back towards the living room. "Sorry. Didn't know you were sick and stuff." He frowned, looking back at Takeru. "Is it somethin' I'm gonna catch? 'Cause I really hate being sick..."

Takeru shook his head, staring at himself in the mirror. "No."

"...Kay. Um... sorry for yelling and stuff," Daisuke mumbled, looking sheepish. "Are you gonna be okay?" He seemed genuinely concerned, despite his disgust.

"I should lay down," Takeru mumbled, not turning to face Daisuke. He couldn't really hear what Daisuke was saying anymore, and he didn't really think it mattered.

"Yeah, okay," Daisuke said, stepping aside to let Takeru go to his room.

He lay down on his bed fully clothed and curled up in a ball, shutting his eyes tightly. It was too much. He was cursed. He'd finally enticed his brother again, and it was going to be the downfall of his brother's relationship. His oniichan was losing Taichi, the person he'd been dating and loved, because Takeru couldn't keep his pants... well, his_ skirt_ on.

Gods, and he'd been calling _Taichi_ a pervert. He wanted to smirk at himself, but he couldn't make his lips respond.

He'd been asleep for a while, he wasn't sure how long, when someone shook him gently. His eyes stayed shut, but he listened to the conversation that was going on in the room, letting his mind slowly wake up.

"He's been lying there like that a long time, and he got sick so suddenly!" Daisuke was saying in the background. "So... even though I'm kinda mad at you... well, I thought you should come make sure he was okay. Maybe he ate something bad!"

"I'll take care of him, Daisuke. Thank you for calling me."

"Sure. I gotta go, but... well... make sure to tell him to call me when he feels better! He said we were friends, so he can't go backing outta that now!" Daisuke said, sounding indignant and more than a little bit worried.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll make sure he calls you tomorrow."

"...Try not to go cheating on Taichi-senpai again. I think you can still fix stuff and all, if you wanna..." Daisuke said hesitantly.

"I think it's too late for that," Yamato said.

Daisuke seemed to hesitate before speaking again. "You're not gonna even try?" he asked.

Yamato didn't respond.

"Okay, well... well if that's how it is... Yamato-san, you and me are rivals now! Even if Taichi-senpai does love you and stuff... if you're gonna treat him crappy, then... we're rivals!"

Takeru let his eyes open once he heard his bedroom door slam shut. It was dark in the room, but there was light trying to peer through his curtains. It had to be afternoon by now.

Yamato looked down and noticed that Takeru was awake. "I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier. I was at practice. Daisuke kept calling me, though. He's a good friend," Yamato said. "Even if he is... a little over-enthusiastic." He was running his fingers through Takeru's hair gently, sitting next to him on the bed.

Takeru shut his eyes again. "I was wrong. Taichi-san wasn't cheating on you." The words came out much easier than he'd thought they would.

"I know," Yamato said, his voice soft.

"I'm sorry," Takeru said, and then he began to sob. He hated himself. He hated his stupid disgusting crush on his brother, he hated himself for making the same mistake _twice_, he hated himself for ruining his brother's relationship, and most of all he hate himself for infecting his brother with his disgusting thoughts and making him go along with them.

"Shhh," Yamato shushed him, pulling him to sit in his lap and hugging him. "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is!" Takeru said between sobs. Oh, he hated crying so much. He hated crying in front of Yamato the most. He was supposed to be grown up, not a little boy anymore. Yet here he was, crying because of his own stupid mistakes.

"No it isn't. It isn't your fault, Takeru." Yamato rubbed Takeru's back gently.

Takeru shook his head and slowly stopped crying, feeling exhausted all over again. He sniffled loudly and grimaced at how disgusting he must look before sitting back and looking at his brother face to face. "But Saturday night-"

Yamato shut his eyes and sighed, nodding a bit. "I shouldn't have done that to you. I... can't even tell you..." he stopped, looking frustrated. "I don't even know how to apologize. I don't think I can."

Takeru shook his head. "Oniichan, you didn't do anything I didn't want you to... I love you, I-"

"Takeru," Yamato said, placing a finger over Takeru's lips to silence him. "I know."

Feeling more tired than he could ever remember being, Takeru placed his face in the crook of his brother's neck. "Are you going to tell me you don't love me now?"

Yamato hugged Takeru tightly. "You're my brother, Takeru. I'll always love you."

Knowing that that might mean that his oniichan didn't love him the way he wanted to, Takeru still smiled just a small smile. It was okay if Yamato would never love him like that, if that's what he meant. His oniichan loved Taichi. As long as he still loved him in _some _form, Takeru would be okay. At least... he hoped so.

Takeru and Yamato didn't hear the soft footsteps finally walking away from Takeru's bedroom door, or the front door swing shut, or Daisuke dialing his cel phone and running down the apartment building's steps to the street below.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes:** It's been forever, but I'm finally updating! Life's been a madhouse this year (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) But never fear, devoted readers (…I do have devoted readers, don't I?) I have not forgotten about this fic. Hopefully the next chapter will be in about a month. Phew… this is officially the longest fic I've done now, chapter-wise at least. And you have no idea what's coming… Ohohohoho! laughs evily …er… anyway, feedback – as always – is fantastic!! Please leave it to show me that people still care, and I promise to do my best to update much sooner this time!

**Chapter 10**

Hate was such a strong word, and Hikari really didn't like to use it, especially when she knew it wasn't really true... but sometimes she just couldn't help herself. Sometimes, in really extreme circumstances, she'd say she hated someone, even though she felt sort of guilty afterwards. This was one of those situations.

"I hate him!" she said, clutching her teacup tightly and staring down at it angrily.

Daisuke was gaping at her. She didn't have to look up at him, she just knew. He was shocked. He was probably also horrified. Hikari-chan hated someone? Hikari-chan hated Yamato-san?

Well, she had every reason to, didn't she? And with this new information... well, that was just the icing on the cake.

"Oniichan deserves better. All Yamato-san has done is fight with him ever since they've been friends, and it only got worse when they started dating, and now... now this?!" Hikari pursed her lips and bit the tip of her tongue to make herself stop. It wouldn't do any good to break down into an angry tirade at a time like this. Besides, Daisuke-kun hadn't ever really seen her get really angry before, and she wasn't sure she ever wanted him to.

"W-well, yeah! That's what I said!" Daisuke said hesitantly, giving her a nervous grin.

She glanced up at him and saw how nervous he'd become, and then shut her eyes and sighed. The guilt was building up in her now. How could she hate Yamato-san? How could she blame him for all of this? After all, her brother didn't exactly have the best relationship or communication skills, and she knew he was a pain to live with from experience.

Still, ever since that time when Yamato had made her cry when she was so young, she hadn't really liked him. Why had she cried that time? She barely remembered. She thought it was something about Taichi being in danger, and she'd wanted reassurance... what had he done? He'd told her her brother was probably going to die, or had he just ignored her? Either way, it had felt terrible at the time, and she'd been so scared.

Then of course he'd become Taichi's best friend, and the two of them were around each other constantly. Half of the time they fought, but they were inseparable. Even Sora-san, who had been Taichi's best friend until then, was pushed aside for him. Of course, Sora had become good friends with Mimi, and had begun to get busy with new hobbies like tennis... but it was so much easier to blame Yamato, wasn't it?

"When Oniichan was in high school I thought things would be alright. He and Yamato-san seemed to get along by then, they didn't fight very often anymore," she heard herself mumble, staring back down at her quickly cooling tea. "But then in college they started dating, and..."

"And they started fighting again!" Daisuke asserted, nodding and folding his arms, frowning. "Like I said, it was a bad idea from the beginning!"

Hikari opened her mouth to say something to agree, but the front door to Daisuke's apartment swung open. She jumped a little, thinking it might be her brother coming in, but it was too early for that. He'd still be out, taking care of the last of the paperwork finalizing his quitting his old job so that he could start the new one next week.

"And that has nothing to do with the fact that you wanted him for yourself, right Daisuke-kun?" Miyako said, striding into the apartment.

Daisuke gaped at her."M-Miyako?!"

The plum-haired girl posed with one hand on her hip and the other in a peace sign. "Ta-da! It's me!"

Ken was entering the apartment behind her, shutting the front door and taking off his shoes. He gave Daisuke a small bow, looking sheepish. "She took my key, I'm sorry. I meant to knock first..."

Hikari smiled widely and jumped up, setting her tea on Daisuke's coffee table and ran over to give Miyako a hug. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Of course I came! The minute I heard Daisuke had called an emergency meeting earlier today I knew I had to come!" She peered over Hikari's shoulder and gave Daisuke a dark glare. "Not that I'd been invited myself, or even told he'd come back to Tokyo."

Hikari stepped back and went back to her seat on the couch, grinning a bit at how horrified Daisuke looked.

"I-I didn't mean- I mean- It's not-" he stuttered.

"He's been very busy," Ken said gently. "I'm sure he planned on officially announcing he'd come back in a few days."

Daisuke nodded quickly, giving Ken a thankful look. "Yeah! Like he says!"

Miyako kicked off her shoes and entered the living room, striding across it and sitting down on the floor on the other side of the coffee table from Hikari and folding her arms confidently. "Well, you still should have told me right away! I'm your friend too, you know!"

Daisuke grinned a little, looking sort of embarrassed, and nodded. "Yeah."

Sitting down in an armchair next to Miyako's place on the floor, Ken gave Daisuke a concerned look. "So what's this emergency meeting about?" he asked.

Daisuke opened his mouth to reply, then hesitated and gave Miyako a suspicious look. "Why are you getting Ken's messages? I left it on his answering machine at his house."

Miyako frowned at him and pushed her glasses farther up her nose. "Because I was visiting his house when he got the message, of course. It's not like I broke in!"

Daisuke held the suspicious look a moment longer before answering Ken's question. "It's about Taichi-senpai."

Hikari felt her stomach sink and she lowered her eyes, picking up the teacup again, wanting something to stare down at other than her own scrawny legs, but not wanting to look at any of their faces while they heard the news. She felt too guilty over her previous outburst, she didn't want them all to say they hated Yamato-san as well just because she was upset for her brother.

"Of course it is," Miyako said, rolling her eyes. "But what about him?"

Daisuke sounded annoyed when he replied. "Yamato-san cheated on him! And they broke up!"

Hikari had expected a long silence, like the response she'd given when she'd heard the news. She'd been shocked, horrified, and somehow felt betrayed... yet vindicated. That was the part she felt the worst about. But Miyako's response wasn't that complex.

"That bastard!" she yelled, gaping at Daisuke. "He cheated on Taichi-san?!"

Daisuke nodded eagerly, leaning forward with a serious expression. He seemed glad to have someone that felt the same about the situation to talk to about it. "Yeah! And they broke up," he said, emphasizing the last part to make sure they heard it this time.

Ken sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking like he felt bad for everyone involved, including them, just from hearing about it. "Daisuke, are you sure they won't-"

"Yeah, I'm sure! 'Cause I know who Yamato-san cheated on Taichi-senpai with!" Daisuke replied quickly, leaning forward more.

Hikari's eyes widened at this and she looked up quickly. He hadn't told her this part. Miyako looked just as eager for the news, whereas Ken looked oddly calm (as if this was anything new.) Licking her lips, because they'd suddenly felt quite dry, Hikari found the ability to speak again. "Is it... someone we know?"

Daisuke gave them a grave expression and nodded again, slowly this time. "Yeah."

"Well, who is it?!" Miyako shouted, pounding on the table with her fist. "You can't say things like that and not tell us right away, we might have heart attacks and die!"

"I don't think this sort of thing would kill you," Ken offered quietly, knowing they were all toning him out.

"Takeru," Daisuke said.

Miyako blinked at him, turning her head towards the door, as if she thought he was greeting the other boy who must have just snuck in behind her and Ken. "Huh? He's not here..."

But Hikari knew what he meant. "Oh... oh, no..." she moaned, sitting back against the couch, suddenly feeling a bit like crying. "Oh no, oh no..."

"Takeru!" Daisuke said loudly. "It was Takeru who he... he... he did it with!"

Miyako's jaw dropped so far that Hikari actually winced, wondering if it was hurting her mouth. "YOU'RE SHITTING ME."

Now Daisuke's jaw dropped, obviously stunned at Miyako's language.

Miyako flushed slightly, obviously a bit embarrassed by her outburst, but didn't back down. "Tell the truth! This isn't funny! They're brothers!"

"Well yeah, that's why it's so gross!" Daisuke said, slapping his hand down on the table and shaking the teacups he'd put out for Hikari and himself. "Because they're brothers! And anyway, it doesn't matter, because either way he shouldn't have cheated on Taichi-senpai!"

Ken put a hand on the table gently, as if to comfort it after being pounded on so much. "Daisuke, I'm sure that there's a good explanation for-"

"How?!" Miyako gave Ken a stunned look. "What kind of explanation can you give for... for... for doing that with your brother?!"

Daisuke wrinkled his forehead. "Or for cheating on Taichi-senpai!" he said.

Hikari frowned at all of them. "What about Takeru-kun?"

They all quieted, looking at her warily.

"Have you thought of how he feels?" she asked, still feeling on the verge of tears. She knew a lot more about this situation than she was allowed to let on, being Takeru's best friend, but she wanted them to think about what they were saying. "He must have... he must be feeling very scared right now."

Miyako's eyes widened. "That's right! Because his brother raped him! Or... or seduced him... you know! Like, 'Oh, my little brother, I've always felt passion for you, and since we haven't been raised together it's okay so let me show you my LOOOVE,'" she said, dropping her voice and posing with a hand on her heart and her eyes half shut. "Like in a yaoi manga!"

Daisuke was making a face as if he'd just swallowed some milk that had gone bad months before. "That... that's really gross... Miyako..."

"Well but it's true!" she said insistently. "Right?"

Biting his lower lip, Daisuke glanced at Hikari, looking as if he knew she knew more than she was letting on. "I don't... think so. I think... maybe Takeru knew what he was doing." He wrinkled his nose again for good measure.

"Takeru-kun isn't stupid," Ken said, folding his arms and looking thoughtful. "Besides, I think we've all known about his... feelings for Yamato-san for a long time."

Daisuke gaped at him. "What?! You knew and you didn't tell me?!"

"You knew Takeru wanted his brother and you didn't say something?!" Miyako wailed, looking betrayed.

Ken flushed and leaned back a bit. "I... I thought you knew! And it's not the sort of thing I just... would go around talking about!"

Hikari pursed her lips, deciding not to get involved. Often she found it much easier to let people like Daisuke or Miyako or Taichi to carry conversations, only speaking up when it was something important. She didn't know how people like them kept up all that energy.

"Well, Takeru and Yamato-san always did seem pretty close," Miyako mused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "But still, I never expected _this_."

"Exactly! It's probably illegal, too!" Daisuke added.

Hikari sighed and glanced away, wondering if there was any excuse she could use to leave soon so that she could check on Takeru. Depending on what was really going on here, he might need a friend right now. Of course, Daisuke did tend to misunderstand things and exaggerate a lot, so it was possible that nothing was going on.

"Are they dating, then?" Ken asked calmly, standing and walking to the kitchen, returning with cups of tea for himself and Miyako.

"Dating?! Can they do that?!" Daisuke asked, jaw dropped.

"If they can screw, they can date," Miyako said, frowning at Ken and taking the cup. "I don't know if that makes it better or worse."

"Well, it doesn't matter! What does matter is that Taichi-senpai is really upset, and if he knows it's Takeru who Yamato-san was with, I think he might be even more upset!" Daisuke said, looking fretful.

"You worry about Taichi-san too much," Miyako said, sipping her tea.

"I do not!" Daisuke said, glaring at her.

"Do too," Miyako replied.

"Do not!" Daisuke shouted back.

"Ah, maybe this isn't the best time to argue about-" Ken began, but he was cut off by Miyako and Daisuke's shouting.

"I don't worry too much about him! Taichi-senpai is my friend!" Daisuke shouted, jumping up from his seat, fisting his hands, and glaring fiercely at Miyako.

"Oh, is _that_ what you call it?" Miyako asked, smirking up at him.

"Wh-what does that mean?!" Daisuke yelped, flushing a dark crimson.

"It _means_ that I _mostly_ don't want to molest _my_ friends," Miyako replied, looking smug.

"I don't want to mole-" Daisuke began, then he paused and frowned at her. "What do you mean, _mostly_?!"

"Oh, don't worry, Daisuke. I wouldn't want to molest _you_," Miyako said, looking positively devious.

Hikari was toning most of the shouting out, which is why she noticed when the front door had opened, and when her brother entered the apartment and walked into the living room. From the look on his face, he'd heard quite a bit of their conversation as he'd walked up the stairs (which of course meant that half the building also heard them, which made Hikari think that maybe they should be a little quieter.)

"Hello, Oniichan," Hikari said, grinning a bit at him, trying to look innocent.

Taichi arched an eyebrow at them as Daisuke yelped and spun around, losing his footing and falling on his bottom on the floor. Miyako and Ken turned and gave Taichi guilty looks.

"They accepted my resignation really easily," Taichi said, sitting on the arm of the couch and giving them all suspicious looks. "Guess they were tired of having me break stuff and yell at people. So it didn't take as long as I thought to get out of there."

"Ah, um, that's great!" Daisuke said, quickly climbing back up to sit on the couch, his posture stiff and his expression horribly guilty. "I mean, I'm glad it was easy! And that you're home! Haha..."

"I think we should go," Ken said as he stood, and gave Miyako a pointed look.

Miyako frowned and stood as well, giving the rest of them a longing glance, then sighed and followed him to the door. "Yeah, I suppose," she said.

Hikari took note that Miyako had listened to Ken so easily, and hadn't fought for her right to stay and gossip. Maybe Ken had some kind of blackmail on her... she'd have to ask later. For now, she had damage control to do, whether her brother wanted it or not.

"Um, we weren't talking about you or anything!" Daisuke said, flushing. "I mean, we were, but not like that!"

"Not like what?" Taichi asked, frowning.

"Not like... you know! Anything bad! Bad stuff! We weren't talking about bad stuff! About you!" Daisuke's voice was getting more and more high pitched now, and Hikari could tell he was about to completely panic.

"Oniichan?" Hikari said, standing.

"Mm?" Taichi asked, distracted from Daisuke for the moment.

"Why don't you walk me home? I should really get going," she said, giving him her sweetest smile.

Taichi narrowed his eyes. "Since when do you need somebody to walk you home?"

"Since it's polite, and you have mail there that you need to pick up, anyway," she said curtly, and walked to the front door. "Thank you for the tea, Daisuke-kun."

Daisuke nodded quickly and gave Hikari a thankful look, obviously thinking that she was doing this to help him out. It made her feel a little guilty, especially since she hadn't told him what she already knew about Takeru and Yamato-san. Still, those weren't her secrets to tell.

"I'll be back after this, Daisuke," Taichi said, slipping his shoes on and opening the door.

Hikari followed her brother into the hall and down the stairs, but she didn't say anything. It was always better to wait for him to start first. Otherwise he'd just get defensive and deny everything.

"So I guess you guys know about that stuff," Taichi mumbled, walking next to her with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"Stuff, Oniichan?" Hikari asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Takeru and Yamato," he said, frowning.

"Mm, well, Daisuke thought he overheard something, but you know how he can be," she replied, trying not to sound worried.

"...Yeah." Taichi finally grunted after a moment. "Well, he didn't misunderstand anything this time." Taichi glanced at her, then removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, even though it wasn't even dusk yet, and even though the air was warm.

Hikari accepted the jacket, grinning just a bit at her brother's ability to be overbearing even in the midst of a crisis. "So… you mean, Takeru-kun and Yamato-san-"

"I didn't really ever want you to find out…" Taichi mumbled.

"Oniichan, really, I'm not a kid anymore," she scolded him gently, cocking her head at him as they walked.

"I know. I know that." Taichi was frowning down at the sidewalk now, and looking uncharacteristically depressed. "But that doesn't mean I wanted you to know the guy I was with wanted his little brother, either."

Hikari wondered when Taichi had stopped calling Yamato his 'boyfriend,' and then suddenly wondered if she'd ever heard Taichi use that word at all. "It's okay, Oniichan. Besides, Takeru-kun is my best friend. I'd sort of… figured it out years ago."

Taichi's ears flushed just subtly enough that if she didn't know that was the tell-tale sign for her older brother being embarrassed, she never would have noticed. "Right."

Hikari stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, giving Taichi a worried look. "It's not your fault, Oniichan."

Taichi turned to look at her, his expression vulnerable, something that even Hikari had only seen a handful of times in her life. "Yeah, right."

"It really isn't." Hikari stepped forward and put a hand on his arm. "Yamato-san has always had… some problems. You didn't-"

"I thought I fixed them." Taichi glanced away, sighing heavily and running a hand through his hair. "Besides, it's not that. It's just… am I that easy to get over? I can deal with being hated, we've gotten in enough fights for that. But… I don't think that's what this is about." Taichi smirked, looking back at her. "It sorta ruins my badass image."

Hikari shook her head, poking her older brother on the chest. "It has nothing to do with you, Oniichan. Yamato-san and Takeru-kun have always had this… thing between them. No one is going to think you're any less cool because of it." She knew he wasn't really worried about looking 'cool' so much as being seen as weak or unimportant. He'd had sort of a complex about that since she could remember, which is probably why he'd always been so hot-headed. So she knew that was what he was really upset about. But she also knew if she said so, he'd close himself off from her and never open up again.

Taichi hesitated, then grinned just a bit. "Yeah. Well. Being cheated on kinda bruises the ego is all."

Hikari cocked her head and gave him a fretful look. "I know."

Taichi glanced away, his ears turning red again. There was a small pause, where he seemed to be awkwardly trying to think of something to say to change the topic. Finally, he blurted out, "Sora hasn't cheated on you, right?!"

Hikari's eyes widened before she shook her head quickly. "No, no! Of course not!"

"Good," Taichi grunted. He turned and began to walk down the street again, chin up, eyes fixed ahead, looking quite a bit less droopy and depressed.

Hikari smiled again, thinking that it was nice that even though it was easy to make her older brother mad, it was easy to cheer him up, too. "Sora-san would never do that. Besides, she knows you'd kill her, so she has to treat me well."

"Damn right she does." Taichi stopped as they approached his parents' apartment building. "Look, uh… I'll get that mail some other time. I don't really wanna explain about all this to them right now."

Hikari nodded, then wrapped her arms around Taichi's middle and gave him a tight hug. "I'll tell mom and dad you said hi. Take care, Oniichan."

"Mm," Taichi grunted, patting her on the head. He grabbed his jacket and grinned at her before she entered the building, and then turned to go back to Daisuke's apartment.

Hikari waited in the lobby just long enough to see her brother walk away before slipping back out the front door and walking to Takeru's place. She knew he'd need someone to talk to, and she was fairly certain she was the only one left who'd listen.

--

When she arrived, she knocked on the door, and it was answered quickly by Takeru's mother.

Ms. Takaishi gave Hikari a relieved look, and shook her head. "I don't suppose you know why my son has been locked in his room all day, do you?"

Hikari's eyebrows went up and her lips parted, giving the worried mother her best innocent look. "Oh, is Takeru-kun sick?"

"I don't know," Mrs. Takaishi mused, folding her arms. "When I got home, he was in his bedroom and he hasn't come out yet. I keep trying to check on him, but he tells me he's fine… I'm really worried."

"I'll see if I can find out what's wrong," Hikari said sweetly, entering the apartment and taking her shoes off.

"Thank you, Hikari-chan, you're always so good to my boy. I'm sorry he's such a bother."

Hikari shook her head. "He's not at all." She smiled, then passed the concerned mother and walked down the hall to Takeru's room, knocking firmly. "Takeru-kun, it's me. Can I come in?"

From inside the room Hikari could just hear Takeru say "Okay." She entered, her eyes trying to adjust to the pitch black of the room. Sighing, Hikari flicked on the overhead light and shut the door behind her.

Takeru was sitting in bed, the blankets pulled up to his neck, and flushed. His eyes were watery. He looked like he'd been crying.

"Oh, Takeru-kun," Hikari said, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to him. She put an arm around his shoulders and rested her head against his own. "What am I going to do with you?"

Takeru let out a long sigh, relaxing against Hikari's body. "You've heard."

"Oh, we've all heard Daisuke's very dramatic version of things, as he overheard it. Also, Oniichan told me."

Takeru tensed just a bit. "He… he knows, huh? That it was me?"

"Mm, seems he figured it out." Hikari rubbed Takeru's side gently. "How are you, though? That's the important thing."

"He's your brother, Hikari-chan, you don't have to pretend to be on my side. I know you must… not be very… happy with me," Takeru mumbled.

"Oh, hush. It's not your fault. The person I'm mad at is Yamato-san, and don't you try to defend him. What he did was wrong, and it was his choice, not yours. You're not responsible. The person who cheats is the one at fault every time, not the person they cheated with." She nodded decisively.

"…Okay," Takeru said softly. "But don't hate him."

Hikari frowned, squeezing his shoulder. "Don't worry about how I feel about him. Worry about how you do, and how he feels about you. The most important thing right now is that. Are you hurt? What did he say? Is he going to…" she trailed off, not really sure what she could imagine Yamato doing to make this okay.

"He said… he loves me." Takeru continued quickly, "I know he means like a brother, but… maybe not just that. And… and he said he wanted to, too… so… even though I think he still loves Taichi-san, maybe if he could love me, too…"

Hikari shut her eyes tightly, thinking instead of saying all the nasty things she wanted to about a man who could use someone like that twice and still not be with them.

"I think… I think we might have a chance," Takeru said softly, turning to look at Hikari. "I think he might actually… once he's used to it… I think he might really be with me this time. For good. If he and Taichi-san are that unhappy, even if he still loves him, he might…"

Hikari opened her eyes and wished she hadn't. Takeru's face practically glowed with hope, just like his crest had said he always would. "Takeru…"

"I know, I know it'd be weird and we couldn't tell anyone but our friends, and I know Taichi-san must be really angry and hate me, but…" Takeru smiled just slightly. "I don't care. Does that make me a horrible person? I've been sitting here in the dark all day trying thinking about it, trying to feel bad, but I can't. I can't feel bad if Oniichan loves me." He flushed, then ducked his head. "That… sounds really selfish."

"Of course it does," Hikari said, giving him an amused look. "Love is always selfish, silly. But you shouldn't be… locking yourself in the dark and punishing yourself because you're happy about something." She sighed and shifted on the bed so they were facing each other, and took Takeru's hands in her own, giving him a serious look. "Oniichan can take care of himself. He and Yamato-san had enough problems already, and that's not your fault. Yamato-san chose to do what he did, and that's not your fault, either. And… so… you should just be happy."

Takeru smiled widely, his eyes glassy with fresh tears. "Thank you, Hikari."

She pulled him into a hug and nodded. "But if something happens, and he won't stay with you…"

"I'll know who I can call," Takeru said, then he laughed softly. "But I don't think that's going to happen. At first I did but now… I thought about it all day. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't love me."

Hikari winced and shut her eyes, tightening the hug. "I hope so."

--

"And then I had to tell his mother that he had a cold, and that was why he wouldn't come out, and he looked so happy, I just…" Hikari trailed off, leaning heavily against the girl who was hugging her from behind. This was how they sat whenever Hikari needed to get something off her chest that was hard to say. They'd sit on the couch and Hikari would sit between Sora's legs, leaning back against her, so she didn't have to look her in the eyes when she said things she felt bad about saying… things like what she was saying today. "Am I a traitor?"

Sora rested her chin on Hikari's shoulder. "Why would you think that?"

"Because Oniichan is hurt, and instead of trying to help him get back together with Yamato-san, I'm helping Takeru-kun." Hikari bit her lower lip hard, feeling guilty and confused.

"Ah, that." Sora sighed softly against Hikari's neck, making her get goose-bumps. "Taichi and Yamato's relationship is messed up because of their own stupidity, not Takeru's. And even if this didn't happen, they were going to break up any day now, anyway. Don't feel bad. You're looking out for your best friend, and he's the real victim in this, not Taichi."

"I can't… think that Oniichan isn't a victim," Hikari said softly. "I feel bad but I sort of… I said that I hate Yamato-san today. I don't want to hate him, but… I keep thinking it over and over again."

Sora kissed Hikari's cheek gently. "You don't hate him. You just hate what he's done, and so does everyone else, including him. I know him well enough to know that whatever he's putting himself through over this is worse than anything you or I could do."

Hikari felt herself relax slightly at that, and nodded. "Do you think that he'll stay with Takeru-kun?"

Sora hesitated before answering, then shrugged. "I don't know. I hope so. It's not exactly the most… acceptable relationship, but they'd be hurting a lot less people if they'd just get together already, instead of constantly wishing they had and ignoring it."

Hikari shifted and turned around so she was kneeling in front of Sora, facing her this time. She smiled gently at the older girl. "How did I get such a smart girlfriend?"

"I already told you, I think it's some sort of spell you cast on me, because there's no way anyone is supposed to look as pretty as you, Hikari-chan, or as irresistible." Sora leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Hikari's waist and nuzzling the tips of their noses together.

Hikari giggled, flushing with pleasure as much as embarrassment.

"If it isn't magic, then explain why it is that every time you walk in a room I just want to eat you up. Explain that one, missy!" Sora said, then placed a gentle love bite on the nape of Hikari's neck.

Hikari's giggles softened into a long sigh. "Is it okay for us to be happy, even when everyone else isn't?"

Sora lifted her head and gave Hikari a gentle smile. "It's not only okay, it's our duty. If we're not happy, we can't take care of our friends, can we?"

Hikari shook her head, gazing into Sora's eyes, and feeling more certain and safe than she had all day. "I guess not."

Then Sora's eyes narrowed, and her lips quirked into a small but evil grin. "So that means we'd better be as happy as possible, doesn't it?"

Hikari's eyes widened slightly, and she felt herself grin. "Oh. Well-"

"Which means that you'd better come into the bedroom with me right now, so that I can make sure that we're both very-" Sora said, placing a kiss on Hikari's neck, "very," she said, placing another kiss lower, "happy."

Hikari let Sora lead her into the bedroom, and left her thoughts of worrying about her brother and her friend and all of their friends' problems on the living room floor, promising she'd pick them back up in the morning. But for now, she'd just let herself be happy.


End file.
